NYCFC and the New York Red Bulls are separated by 10 points in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference ahead of the second and final regular-season Hudson River Derby on Saturday at Sports Illustrated Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET).
The Boys in Blue dropped to fifth, tied on points with fourth-placed Charlotte FC, after falling 4-0 to Inter Miami on Wednesday Night.
They were on a three-win bounce before the loss to Miami, though. It was the first three-match streak of any result under Jansen’s charge in New York — comeback wins against the Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew, followed by a 2-0 win against the Crown last weekend, which helped NYCFC mathematically secure a playoff spot.
“The things that I agreed with, taking on this project, were playing for a top-four spot in general,” NYCFC head coach Pascal Jansen said after the Charlotte win. “We clinched the playoff spot, and it’s a success, but we want more.”
Across the Hudson River, the mood is a little different.
The Red Bulls are two points outside the playoff wild-card spots in 10th, having played one more game than the Fire in ninth. With three games left to go in the regular season, their storied 15-year-long record of making the playoffs in consecutive MLS seasons looks to be in jeopardy.
And their cross-town rivals could deal the killing blow on Saturday, ending the longest active playoff streak in North American professional sports.
“That caught me off guard. I’ve got to mention that to the boys,” NYCFC defender Tayvon Gray said when amNew York told him City could knock the Red Bulls out of play-off contention. “That’s an important fact, for sure, that definitely puts a little more pressure.”
For the Red Bulls, a first win against the Philadelphia Union since 2019 in the middle of August could have been the momentum changer for a side that has been average this season.
Overall, they’re 16th in the MLS, a 30-team league. Their goal differential puts them 13th compared to the rest of the league, key passes 15th and allowed the 11th-fewest goals in the league. Surprisingly, though, Carlos Coronel and his defense have kept 10 clean sheets this season — tied 4th with first-in-the-west San Diego FC.
They could not capitalize on the big result and could not put away their chances in a “frustrating” 1-0 defeat to Charlotte FC next, according to RBNY head coach Sandro Schwarz.
“I think they are one of the best teams at home,” Bradley Wright-Phillips, the Red Bulls’ all-time leading scorer and analyst with Apple TV for MLS Season Pass, told amNewYork. “If you go off the numbers, they’re one of the best teams in the league at home. It’s strange — it’s probably that away form, not getting enough of those wins where they are not putting a complete 90 minutes [performance].”
Based on home form alone, the Red Bulls would be fifth in the MLS and the Eastern Conference, with 33 points earned from 15 matches played at the Sports Illustrated Stadium.
And yet, a 0-0 draw against Columbus at home, where they had the majority of the chances, and a 2-1 loss to the Portland Timbers away have left the Red Bulls in a scramble.
“There’s no point winning that game if you don’t go and win the next one,” Wright-Phillips said of the Philadelphia win.
The Red Bulls’ season has been sprinkled with wins, with no back-to-back three points since a three-win run that followed the 2-0 Hudson River Derby defeat in May.
“There just hasn’t been a consistency to this team,” Sacha Kljestan, another former Red Bulls and LA Galaxy midfielder who is an analyst with Apple TV, told amNewYork. “They’ve got to find a way to get that right or else they’re going to miss the playoffs.”
The Red Bulls can at least count on a 2-0 win against Montréal for form. Tim Parker and Eric Maxim Chuopo-Moting scored within half an hour to secure the win in Canada.
“I like that Tim Parker has been brought back into the side,” Kljestan said.
Parker played for the Red Bulls between 2015 and 2018, winning a Supporters’ Shield, before stints at the Houston Dynamo, St. Louis City and New England Revolution brought him back to Harrison.
“I think he’s very important,” continued Kljestan. “He’s probably the oldest of the center backs they have, but he’s the most experienced, and I think he brings us stability, accountability and organization to that backline that they need.”
The Red Bulls’ almost spotless (two losses against D.C. United and Miami) home form and the fact that the Boys in Blue will only have one full day of rest before playing this match seem to stack the odds in the Bulls’ favor, despite NYCFC holding a higher position in the standings.
RBNY will not have played in a week when the derby gets going, since their match against Montréal last Saturday.
“[The Red Bulls are] still fighting for a spot in the playoffs, so it’s going to be intense considering that,” Jansen said of the upcoming derby. “It’s also intense because it’s one of the most important games of the season for us and for our fans.”
