New York Red Bulls 3, Vancouver Whitecaps 0 | 2017 MLS Match Recap

Ian Nicholas Quillen

The New York Red Bulls have obliterated their eight-match league winless stretch and booked their Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs place in the process.

Bradley Wright-Phillips scored his team-leading 17th goal, Daniel Royer added his 12th and the Red Bulls dominated the Western Conference-leading Vancouver Whitecaps in a 3-0 victory on Saturday.

Felipe completed the scoring with a long-distance screamer to seal New York's first MLS win since Aug. 12. Despite their recent struggles, the Red Bulls become the sixth and final Eastern Conference team to make the postseason, eliminating Montreal, New England, Philadelphia and Orlando in the process. They could still finish as high as fourth.

Vancouver entered the match with a four-point lead in the West and could've secured a Knockout Round bye with a victory. But the Whitecaps never appeared capable of that at Red Bull Arena, only showing signs of life after going down a second goal. New York outshot Vancouver 18-3 and 8-1 in efforts on target.

Goals

33' - NY - Daniel Royer Watch
58' - NY - Bradley Wright-Phillips Watch
72' - NY - Felipe Watch

Three Things

DOUBLE TROUBLE:
Wright-Phillips and Royer have accounted for 57 percent of the Red Bulls’ goals in league play this season, despite Royer missing nearly two months recently with a knee injury. They've also now scored in the same match five times during 2017 league play, most recently accomplishing that feat on July 29 prior to the Austrian's seven-game absence.
October 7, 2017
VISIONARY TALENT:
After scoring his first two professional goals two games ago in a
3-3 draw
with
D.C. United
, 18-year-old midfielder Tyler Adams followed has followed that with three assists in his last two games. He had two against Vancouver, including a sparkling diagonal ball that set up Wright-Phillips for a chip over charing ‘keeper David Ousted.

If Tyler Adams embraces the fact that he's a wide player he should make the World Cup team as Yedlin's back-up.
— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) October 7, 2017

AGGREGATE ISSUES?: The Whitecaps lost for only the second time in 10 league matches, though this felt kind of familiar. Of their eight defeats away from BC place, four are shutout losses by at least three goals. As a result, their plus-2 goal differential is worse than the next four teams in the West standings. That could spell difficulty in the two-leg, total goals format of the conference semifinals and finals.

Next Up

NY: Sunday, October 15 vs. Atlanta United (5 pm ET | FS1, MLS LIVE in Canada)
VAN: Sunday, October 15 vs. San Jose Earthquakes (7:30 pm ET | TSN 1, MLS LIVE in the US)

Ian Nicholas Quillen -

@IaqDiesel

New York Red Bulls Vancouver Whitecaps FC