The New York Red Bulls’ season came to an end on Sunday afternoon after falling on aggregate away goals to Toronto FC, 2-2.
In the second leg at BMO Field, the Red Bulls dealt Toronto just their second home loss of the season with a win, 1-0, but came up one goal shy of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.
“I’m proud of my team, I’m proud of the fight they showed, I’m proud of the way they played,” head coach Jesse Marsch said. “In two games against the supposed best team in history, I thought that we played well both games, dictated the game both games, went after it in a big way and we were a little bit unlucky to come up a little short on a few plays.”
Heading into the second leg, New York had what Marsch described as a ‘mountain to climb’ against the 2017 Supporters’ Shield champions following a 2-1 loss at Red Bull Arena.
The Red Bulls needed to win by a two-goal margin, or one-goal margin with a scoreline of 3-2 or greater, against a team with the best home record in MLS.
“They had [three] shots on goal the whole series,” Marsch said. “I thought it was great to see our team, against such a good team, really go after it. That says a lot, [three] shots on goal over 180 minutes, that is pretty impressive.”
At the conclusion of the match in Toronto, Marsch was proud of the fight his team showed over the course of the two-legged series.
“In life you don’t always get what you deserve, that’s what I told them, and that’s what sports is about, that’s what life's about,” Marsch said. “But in terms of now, really going after it in a way to represent what we’re trying to do here I thought that so many of our guys laid it on the line so [we’re] a little bit unlucky to come up short.”
