CLOSING IN
Red Bulls win; on cusp of playoff berth
AMID ALL THE drama surrounding Thierry Henry’s uncertain future and Tim Cahill’s decision to be with the Australian national team for a pair of friendlies during a crucial homestretch, the Red Bulls are fighting to secure a playoff berth a year after winning the Supporters’ Shield last year for earning Major League Soccer’s best regular-season record, the first-ever trophy in the franchise’s history.
Needing every point, the Red Bulls went a long way Saturday night to clinching a playoff spot, comfortably beating Toronto FC 3-1 in front of an announced crowd of 24,068 at Red Bull Arena behind goals from the league’s leading scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips, Ruben Bover and Dax McCarty. It’s their seventh straight MLS home victory and extends their home MLS unbeaten streak to 10 games. They last lost at home on May 24 to Portland.
“Massive result,” coach Mike Petke said. “We’re taking every game as a playoff game, and that includes Columbus next weekend.”
The Red Bulls are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 47 points; the top five teams in each conference qualify for the postseason. If Houston loses to or draws with conferenceleading DC United on Sunday, the Red Bulls would clinch a playoff spot. The fourth and fifth seeds in each conference enter a one-game playoff before the two-legged conference semifinals. Next Sunday, New York hosts fifth-placed Columbus, which is one point behind the Red Bulls.
There’s still a chance for the Red Bulls to jump into second or third place, as they’re two points behind both New England and Sporting Kansas City; the Red Bulls end the season at Kansas City. They realistically can finish anywhere from second to fifth, but have an eye on hosting the play-in game if they’re unable to move up the table.
“I’m still gunning for third place at least,” Petke said, “but if we have to play the play-in game of course we want it at home.”
Wright-Phillips put the Red Bulls on the board in the 26th minute with his 25th goal of the season, bringing him within two goals of the MLS single-season record with two games remaining. He insists he doesn’t think about the record until reporters mention it to him, but admitted he’d allow himself to think about it more if the team qualifies for the playoffs.
“Obviously I would like to break it, but we’ve got a job to do as a team,” Wright-Phillips said.