HARRISON, N.J. – As far as Tim Cahill is concerned, the New York Red Bulls should take care of business on Sunday.
The Red Bulls will continue their run in the MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by AT&T, at home on Sunday afternoon when they host the New England Revolution in front of an expected sell-out crowd in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Championship (1:30 pm ET; NBC).
New York head coach Mike Petke labeled New England favorites in the series late last week given what the Revolution did in the regular season and their lopsided Eastern Conference semifinals win over the Columbus Crew. But Cahill does not share that viewpoint, and said repeatedly on Saturday that the Red Bulls should come out on top if they play to the best of their ability.
“Really, if you say, who do I feel is the better team, I feel we are,” Cahill told reporters after a late morning practice at Red Bull Arena. “I’m confident whatever side we put out at home, we should beat these guys tomorrow, [but] they’re a great team and they’ve done really well.”
“This is a chance for the boys to step up and make a name for themselves,” he later added. “We’ve not been in contention properly to win an MLS Cup and this is our first really realistic chance, and I feel that we’re favorites to knock these off.”
Cahill and the Red Bulls are coming off a 3-2 aggregate victory over D.C. United in the last round. New York came out on top in the first leg, 2-0, and did enough in a 2-1 loss at RFK Stadium to secure advancement, a notable accomplishment for them given that they had never gotten past their archrivals in four postseason tries.
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New England, however, was the East club that really impressed in the conference semifinals. They cruised to a 7-3 win against Columbus, picking up an all but insurmountable 4-2 lead on the road in the first leg before closing out the series with a 3-1 triumph at Gillette Stadium.
The Revolution’s offensive mindset in the first leg at Crew Stadium was billed as a key factor in that series, and Cahill is expecting that same type of approach on Sunday. The Australian midfielder believes that how the Red Bulls fare defensively will go a long way in determining the outcome of the series, as he is more than confident that an attack that has not been shutout since September has what it takes to knock off New England.
“I really feel if we can make sure that we minimize the ball to [Lee] Nguyen, and especially Jermaine Jones, then they’re going to have a lot of problems against us at home because we’ll definitely score, probably two goals tomorrow,” said Cahill. “It’s just whether or not we can make sure we don’t concede.”
Franco Panizo covers the New York Red Bulls for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached by email at Franco8813@gmail.com.
