When each groups are enjoying effectively, as they’re now, the D.C. United – New York Crimson Bulls rivalry is pretty much as good because it will get in Main League Soccer. Brooke Tunstall handicaps this weekend’s conflict.
BY
Brooke Tunstall
Posted
April 10, 2015
10:20 AM
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THE MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER common season stretches till late October so it’s laborious to get too labored up a few matchup in April.
Nonetheless, as early season video games go, this week’s tilt between D.C. United and the New York Crimson Bulls (Saturday, 7pm ET, MLS DirectKick) is about as fascinating because it will get contemplating one crew is undefeated and the opposite sits atop the Jap Convention standings.
D.C. United is 3-1 and in first place within the East. For causes that aren’t very clear to anybody outdoors MLS headquarters, particularly because the membership has its personal stadium and may open it each time it needs, Crimson Bull have already had two bye weeks. However the crew is 2-0-1 proper now, leaving New York and Actual Salt Lake (2-0-2) as the one unbeaten groups left in MLS.
It’s too early to recommend it will impression the playoff standings however these factors rely, too, and a win right here isn’t simply three factors gained however retains a fellow contender from getting three as effectively.
THE SUBPLOTS
Who can neglect Alecko Eskandarian operating to the sidelines, grabbing a can of Crimson Bull, and spitting it out shortly after the vitality drink producer took over New York’s first MLS crew?
How about then-MetroStars coach Bob Bradley benefiting from an MLS loophole when he was out of discipline substitutions by inserting 16-year-old Eddie Gaven as a goalkeeper then having him change jerseys and play as a discipline participant? Gaven scored the sport winner, after all. (That brinksmanship led to that aforementioned loophole promptly being closed.)
These two groups had been MLS’ first actual rivalry, one of many first the place visiting followers commonly traveled to attend and make noise. And whereas the depth has waned at occasions, when each groups are enjoying effectively, as they’re now, this matchup remains to be as intense as any in MLS.
It is also a 2015 rematch. New York beat United 2-0 in week two at Crimson Bull Enviornment—and Jesse Marsch’s facet are the one crew to attain on Ben Olsen’s males this season.
Can United’s protection, which bent however didn’t break towards Orlando final week, get its fourth clear sheet? Or will Lloyd Sam and Bradley Wright-Phillips, who every scored towards D.C. in week two duplicate their magic at RFK Stadium?
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sam and Wright-Phillips every have two targets this season however Wright-Phillips, final season’s golden boot winner with a record-tying 27 targets, seems set on being a extra full participant this yr. In 2014 he managed simply two assists all seasons however has already matched that whole in three video games this yr.
A well-rounded Wright-Phillips makes him far more dynamic and harder to key on, as United realized in week two.
For United, a crew that has grinded out three 1-0 wins, the final two approaching stoppage-time targets towards Los Angeles and Orlando, protection stays key. It boasted the stingiest protection within the league a yr in the past and proceed to experience that components this yr.
The important thing cog in United’s protection is holding midfielder Perry Kitchen, who covers acres of floor in entrance of the again 4 whereas breaking apart numerous opposing assaults. At 23, Kitchen has emerged as one of many high defensive midfielders in a league that produces a lot of them, and in February he earned his first nationwide crew cap.
If Kitchen can preserve Wright-Phillips, Felipe Martins, and Sacha Kljestan in examine, United’s probabilities enhance enormously.
THE X-FACTOR
After scoring simply 5 targets in 44 video games with Toronto, Luis Silva has tallied 15 occasions in 41 video games in a United shirt. The previous UC-Santa Barbara star performed so effectively earlier than a late hamstring damage ended his 2014 season that his title was being bandied about for a U.S. nationwide crew summons.
Silva missed the ultimate two common seasons video games final yr, each of United’s playoff video games, and the primary three video games this season. Not surprisingly, United’s assault wasn’t the identical with out him—averaging only a objective a recreation and being shut out 3 times.
Lastly wholesome, the 26-year-old got here off the bench final week towards Orlando Metropolis and scored the decisive objective on a splendidly taken free kick. Silva’s creativity and nostril for the objective make a lunch pail and hardhat United crew far more harmful and dynamic, and if he will get an opportunity towards New York he might be the distinction maker.
PREDICTION
It’s powerful to beat an excellent crew twice early within the season. United isn’t enjoying nice however it’s discovering methods to win. That ought to proceed towards Crimson Bull, 1-0, after all.
