The old soccer refrain says that a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous in the sport, and that’s the exact scenario Mike Petke and his New York Red Bulls will have to manage carefully in order to avoid suffering a letdown in the MLS Cup Playoffs, presented by AT&T.
The Red Bulls have a two-goal cushion in their Eastern Conference Semifinals series against D.C. United, beating their archrivals by way of a 2-0 shutout at Red Bull Arena on Sunday. The two clubs will meet again on Saturday at RFK Stadium (2:30 pm ET, NBC) with a place in the conference finals on the line, and the strategic approaches from both sides will be discussed aplenty in the days leading up to the match.
With away goals coming into play this season, things are not as black and white as they have been in the past. D.C. failed to score an away goal this past weekend, so all New York need is one shot to find the back of the net to force United to have to win by a minimum score of 4-1 in order to advance.
Tempting as it might be to hunt for an early goal and put the series out of reach, the Red Bulls are not planning to come out flying from the start. Instead, they are going to stay with their tried-and-true method of being organized defensively and smart offensively.
“Our game plan is not going to change to start this game,” said Petke via a conference call on Tuesday morning. “Our game plan perhaps could be tweaked depending what goes on, but we are going to stick with what’s gotten us results over the last month, month-and-a-half, which is a compact defense, solid, limiting space in the middle and looking to exploit when we win the ball, looking to go forward.
”That’s who we are as a team.”
That is not to say the Red Bulls are going to sit back and absorb the pressure from a D.C. team that needs to push the game in order to get back into the series. New York will try and attack calculatedly and be smart in possession, while trying to stay as airtight defensively as they were in Sunday’s impressive first-leg victory.
Petke’s defense did a spectacular job of clamping down on D.C. United’s attack, but midfielders Dax McCarty and Eric Alexander did a lot of the dirty work to protect the back four. The veteran central mids at the heart of the Red Bulls' 4-2-3-1 formation have been key to New York’s late-season surge: The club is 8-2-1, including the playoffs, since making that tactical switch at the start of September – and Petke thinks that will again be the case this weekend.
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“Specifically, if Dax and Eric do their job, well then, it doesn’t matter how many Bradley [Wright-Phillips] scores or Thierry [Henry] scores or assists, those two are going to be MVPs,” said Petke. “That’s where the game’s going to be won.”
New York do not necessarily need to win this match. They could even lose or tie and still advance, thanks to their thorough opening-leg triumph.
That might be a favorable advantage for the Red Bulls, but they aren’t taking it for granted.
“I don’t think D.C. is going to be desperate,” said Petke. “We were not desperate this last game and we won 2-0. They’re atop of the East, they’re the favorites. I don’t care what the score was, going into this game they are the favorites.”
Franco Panizo covers the New York Red Bulls for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached by email at Franco8813@gmail.com.
