The 66,000 fans have gone home. David Beckham is in London and the media crush that was part of a very special and memorable MLS game between the New York Red Bulls and the Los Angeles Galaxy.
None of that will be there Wednesday night when the Red Bulls head to RFK Stadium to take on rival D.C. United. But three points in the Eastern Conference are on the line, and with two months left in the MLS regular season, that means more than the David Beckham road show to the Red Bulls.
Wednesday's match against D.C. will be the first of back-to-back conference road games at two venues - Gillette Stadium being the other - that have been houses of horror for the Red Bulls in the past.
The Red Bulls have not beaten United in D.C. since Oct. 8, 2005 and are 6-18-4 all-time at RFK Stadium and have won just twice in the past five years. Earlier this year, D.C. beat the Red Bulls 4-2 in the nation's capital with Ben Olsen netting a hat trick and D.C. playing the final 30 minutes with 10 men.
The Red Bulls exacted some revenge when they beat injury-plagued United 1-0 at Giants Stadium on July 22.
The Red Bulls record at Gillette Stadium is even worse. They are 4-14-4 all-time in Foxborough and are 0-6-4 since a 2-0 win June 29, 2002.
So the Red Bulls can't afford a letdown after a thrilling win against the Galaxy on Saturday.
"I don't think it's guarding a letdown as much as it's regrouping and getting some gas back in the tank," Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena said. "I think this was a performance that took a lot out of our team and it's going to be important if we can recover physically. We'll need to bring a couple new players into the team on Wednesday. I don't think we'll have a letdown on the mental side, we just have to make sure we do a good job in making sure our players recover and get them physically ready to play."
There were positives and negatives from the win against Los Angeles, which moved the Red Bulls into a second place tie with D.C. United, six points behind Eastern Conference leaders New England. While the majority of the largest stand-alone MLS crowd at Giants Stadium were there to catch a glimpse of Beckham, Jozy Altidore stole the show.
For the second consecutive game, the 17-year-old scored a brace to lift the Red Bulls to victory. He also became the second consecutive Red Bulls player to win MLS Player of the Week honors after Juan Pablo Angel, who also scored twice, including the game-winner, picked up the award a week ago.
"The goals speak for himself. He's a dangerous player," Arena said of Altidore. "What I like about him is that he is a young kid that has a lot of confidence. The physical ability, and now the technical side is starting to surface for him. His first touch is improving. He's doing a much better job holding up the ball."
Clint Mathis, starting in place of an injured Claudio Reyna, also scored, becoming the all-time leading scorer in New York history, eclipsing the mark set by Giovanni Savarese.
That was the good.
That the Red Bulls gave up four goals, including three off Beckham set pieces, is not so good. Although, they did manage to block four Beckham free kicks in the second half.
Goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus also looked shaky in his return to the starting lineup after missing the last four games with a left ankle sprain.
"I thought he could have done better on a couple of plays [Saturday], but it's easy standing on the sidelines and say that," Arena said. "The last time he played, we won in Colorado and we didn't want to take that position away from him because of an injury. On the other hand, (Jon) Conway has played real well and I anticipate that Conway will get some games this year."
And with two critical Eastern Conference games in a span of four days, it's a safe bet that Arena will be using his 21st different starting lineup when the Red Bulls meet D.C.
Favorites to make their return to the starting XI are Jon Conway, who is 5-4-1 with a 1.03 GAA and four shutouts, and Carlos Mendes, a staple in central defense for the past two years who has sat in favor of Seth Stammler for the past two games.
The Red Bulls will again be without Dema Kovalenko, who is recovering from facial injuries after a car accident with teammate Sinisa Ubiparipovic, and Santino Quaranta, who is out with a right toe sprain. Reyna is listed as questionable with a right groin strain.
D.C. will be without Josh Gros, who is out with a concussion, and Jamil Walker, who has a ruptured Achilles.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
