HARRISON, N.J. ā Playoff victories always hold the utmost significance. But downing your hated rivals for the second time in as many seasons? Well, that just makes the win even sweeter.
Prior to 2014, the New York Red Bulls and D.C. United had met on four separate occasions in postseason play, with each meeting proceeding in the same way for New York: an empty locker the next day.
Last season, the Red Bulls flipped the script, besting United over two legs and advancing to the Eastern Conference Championship. In 2015, the Red Bulls were nearly perfect against their I-95 foes, posting a 4-0-1 record in their five matchups, with the final victory acting as the symbolic dagger to the heart of D.C.
āIt doesnāt feel like it was that lopsided this year,ā Marsch said after the match. āA lot of those games were tight. Theyāre emotional, theyāre physical; theyāre what rivalry games are supposed to be.ā
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High emotion and added physicality are more or less the norm when these two sides go head-to-head, but Sundayās do-or-die clash saw both sides doing more even more battle than usual, often at the expense of the footballing aspect of the match.
āWeāve adapted to it, but we donāt really like to play that way,ā Red Bulls goalscorer Bradley Wright-Phillips said. āWe like to play football. No disrespect to D.C. because theyāre good at it, but they like to ruffle feathers.ā
While not a masterpiece aesthetically, youāll hardly hear a complaint from the Red Bulls locker room. And though their next opponent is currently undecided, both Montreal and Columbus both offer more opportunities for the Red Bulls to play to their strengths. But for former United midfielder and current Red Bulls captain Dax McCarty, thereās no denying just how special a second straight playoff triumph over United has been.
āItās huge for us, massive significance,ā he stated. āIt gives us more confidence to know that even when the game isnāt pretty and even when we canāt do the things that make us a good team, we can still win games in different ways. We can win games ugly and stay in the moment and not break down.ā
A newcomer to the team, midfielder Sacha Kljestan joked that he is perfect against D.C. while noting that it felt āextra specialā to knock off their hated rivals. As for the comments made by former Red Bulls striker Fabian Espindola prior to the series?
āWhatever,ā he said, shrugging. āAsk Espindola now if he wants to play us, I donāt know what heās going to say. But I donāt really care.ā