“Can’t explain the feeling,” midfielder Felipe Martins tweeted shortly after the final whistle blew on the New York Red Bulls’ fourth straight New York Derby victory over New York City FC. “In 100 years from now, we gonna still talk about it.”
It was a game that will live in infamy as the Red (Bull) Wedding, Siete a Cero, or simply as the joint-highest margin of victory in MLS’ 20-year history. Though fans had entered Yankee Stadium for the first rivalry match of the season somewhat tense, due to the team’s form at the time and the fans’ severely decreased ticket allotment, it took less than four minutes for the unease to melt away and only a couple dozen more for it to look like the home fans themselves had had their allotment lowered. But even before it looked like there were more Red Bulls fans than NYCFC fans in attendance as the latter streamed towards the exits, it sounded like it. It turns out that fans can get pretty loud when they have a goal against their rivals to cheer for every 12.9 minutes, on average.
Kerissa Ward, who was fearful before the game that “those of us in the supporters section would[n’t] be loud enough” to make up for the lessened attendance, remembers reading after the match that “people could hear us and not the Third Rail” for almost the entirety of the game.
And for Phil Beck, who “was expecting [ ] a closer game” for his first New York derby match, “was absolutely stunned by the offensive output from the team, and [by] being there live.”
“It felt like I was dreaming.”
And hopefully, this Sunday will add even more talking points to that 100-year-from-now conversation. For the fifth installment of this rivalry match, the Red Bulls will travel once again to Yankee Stadium for what is also the last away derby of the season. And, as said by T.J. Peterson, fans will head there riding the wave of May’s result and ready to watch how an offense that hasn’t been shut out since May 13 and a team that boasts the largest goal difference in the eastern conference “can follow up on 7-0.”
And how will the fans themselves follow up their own deafening display? Cheering even louder, if such a thing is possible, to fill Yankee Stadium with more of what Jason Puckett describes as “electricity.”
“These matches surpass all others – even D.C. – just in terms of turnout and gameday environment. …At New York derby matches, every pass or tackle garners some reaction from the entire crowd. [It] lifts the whole experience to one that’s a bit more otherworldly.”
But big games are always worrisome, even when the team has proven – more and more convincingly each time, from 2-1 to 3-1 to 2-0, their first shutout, to 7-0 – that they can take care of business.
“[I’m ] definitely a lot more nervous this time,” says Hannah Paskow. “We won big last time and I feel like every time we win against them, there’s more and more pressure to keep beating them.”
Added to that are the current standings. If Red Bulls fans were nervy before last match because of a tight eastern conference table that sent teams above and below the red line with every match, the Red Bulls now sit in third place, just one point behind second-place NYCFC. “And NYCFC has been winning,” adds Paskow, although they also hadn’t lost in five before playing the Red Bulls last match, “So I’m definitely scared for this game.”
For others, the nerves have translated into a heightened anticipation for exactly the same reasons. Peterson, for one, is even “more excited” than he was for the match in May. “The [Red Bulls are] playing much better, and the game has extra meaning with the points being extra meaningful to the standings. It’s like a six-pointer; there’s incentive to keep the opponent from collecting points.”
And if history is any indication, they certainly will.
