HARRISON, N.J. — If you were setting up a billboard to promote Sunday's installment of the New York derby, chances are you would have tossed up the famous faces of David Villa, Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo, international stars known to soccer fans the world over. If there wouldn't have been a Red Bulls player on that billboard before Sunday, there certainly would be room for a couple after how their stars delivered.
Sacha Kljestan and Bradley Wright-Phillips outplayed their more famous counterparts Sunday, contributing to all four goals and helping the Red Bulls dominate play in midfield on the way to a comfortable 4-1 victory that returned control of the rivalry to the team in red.
"With the way that they pressure, we felt like we could do certain things to gain advantages in certain parts of the field, which would then lead Sacha to find gaps in their team," Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said. "And then whenever Sacha is catching balls in important spots, he knows that his first option is Brad. So his ability to sort of move and see things and then slip a ball to Brad the right way sets him up to execute around the goal.
"That's what makes their relationship special, and that's what makes each one of them good."
On a day when he was battling in the same midfield as Pirlo and Lampard, Kljestan dominated play by staying in a more advanced position and keeping constant pressure on the NYCFC defense with his passing and movement in possession.
"I want to be one of the best players in the league, and to show that you have to do that against the best players in the league," Kljestan told Goal USA. "I have a lot of respect for all three of their guys because they're very good players. David Villa, for me, is probably the MVP of the league right now.
"You go up against three guys that have played at the highest level for a long time and you want to beat them no matter what."
Wright-Phillips continued to terrorize NYCFC defenders, scoring twice to up his total to an impressive eight goals in six matches against the Red Bulls' rival.
"Me, growing up watching derbies, I'm a big Arsenal fan, you watch Arsenal-Tottenham and you see what it means to the players and the fans involved in those games," Wright-Phillips said. "I think I kind of grew with that kind of feeling so when I come here, before this occasion, I'm nervous. It means a lot to me. I want to score and do well."
"It makes me think back to when we played Chivas (USA)-Galaxy games and Landon Donovan always seemed to show up for those games and he always seemed to make a difference," Kljestan said. "Bradley's been that guy for us against (NYCFC)."
NYCFC's star players were largely invisible on the day. Neither Pirlo or Lampard handled the heat or the Red Bulls' pressure well, as they both saw their passing percentages fall under 80 percent, with neither creating a single scoring chance. Villa had one good look at goal he sent wide in the first half when the score was still 0-0 but offered very little after that.
The Red Bulls weren't limited to outshining NYCFC's big names on the field. Marsch deserves plaudits for outcoaching Patrick Vieira on the day, and leaving the Frenchman flustered and frustrated to the point of spending most of his post-match news conference ripping Marsch for his recent comments about MLS referees, which Vieira insisted wound up impacting how Sunday's derby was officiated.
Vieira's conspiracy theory had merit only in the sense that Marsch's recent comments were clearly made with the intent of trying to ensure an evenly called match. Referee Mark Geiger wasn't the reason the Red Bulls won in a rout. They won because their team played much better, and their stars stepped up in a big match while NYCFC's stars were quiet.
SOUNDERS HIT NEW LOW AS SEASON KEEPS SPIRALING
Just when Seattle Sounders fans thought things couldn't get any worse, they just watched their team play its worst match in a season that was already shaping up to be a nightmare.
Just four days after essentially sacrificing the U.S. Open Cup to rest players for Sunday's visit to Sporting Kansas City, the Sounders wilted in the Midwestern heat as the home side squeezed the life out of Sigi Schmid's team in a 3-0 romp.
Offensively, the Sounders didn't manage a single shot on goal, and earned no corner kicks. They weren't much better defensively, watching as Dom Dwyer muscled his way to a pair of goals.
When a team doesn't play well, there's a lot of things," Schmid said. "Obviously as a coach, I'm the guy who's got to take responsibility. We've got to ask ourselves, 'Were we tactically set up the right way? Did we get the stuff out of them? Did some guys put in the performance we expected of them? Did they not?' There's all kinds of things, but at the end of the day we just weren't good today. Sometimes you have a day where you're not good."
Unfortunately for Sounders fans, there have been far too many such days this season, and now the question is how much longer will Seattle ownership give Schmid?
The season is spiraling out of control and it isn't a stretch to say it is already a lost cause. The Sounders now sit 10 points out of the playoff race in the stacked Western Conference, and one point away from last place. In order to actually reach the playoffs, the Sounders will need a seriously strong finish and will need at least three teams ahead of them in the standings to collapse. Throw in the fact that their next game is against a surging LA Galaxy side that has won four straight and you start to realize just how bad things have gotten.
Help is supposed to be on the way in the form of attacking reinforcements, but will it really be enough to turn things around? Midseason arrivals are never a sure bet to hit the ground running, and even an improvement by Seattle doesn't guarantee enough of a boost to overcome teams like Vancouver, Real Salt Lake, Sporting KC, Portland and San Jose.
Schmid came into the 2016 season with a clear mandate of winning an MLS Cup — at least that was the mandate before the team sold Obafemi Martins to a Chinese club and failed to add an immediate replacement. Martins' departure was always going to hurt the Sounders, but few could have envisioned such a collapse.
The fact Seattle has yet to bring in a replacement for Martins is the only reason Schmid hasn't been fired already, but even that security blanket is wearing thin with each passing loss, and each step further away from the playoffs the Sounders fall.
A loss to the Galaxy on Sunday very well could signal the end of any realistic hope of maintaining the club's streak of reaching the playoffs in every season of its MLS existence. If that happens, the Sounders would have no real reason to keep Schmid since at that point there would be no chance of him returning in 2017 anyway.
BEST OF MLS WEEK 19
Player of the Week: Didier Drogba. The Ivorian striker terrorized the Philadelphia Union to the tune of three goals to edge out Sebastian Giovinco for this week's honors.
Team of the Week: New York Red Bulls. Dominated East-leading New York City FC to grab the nod ahead of Montreal and the LA Galaxy.
Rookie of the Week: Alex Muyl. The midfielder played an important part in helping the Red Bulls dominate their rivals in blue.
Goal of the Week: Yes, Thomas McNamara's long-range strike was worthy of consideration, but it wasn't nearly as important as Ulloa's late-game rocket, which helped FC Dallas hold onto first place in the Western Conference.
Victor Ulloa. WOW.
All knotted up in Colorado. #DTID https://t.co/LH8xJEy75R
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 24, 2016
..... - Goal