Forget all of the sturm und drang of the New York Red Bulls’ past road woes. Their Tuesday-night match at the Chicago Fire, in the Knockout Round of the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs, ended in a borderline-rude, 4-0 win at Toyota Park. Could the team – and their fans on social media – enjoy a minute of – yes, really – happiness?
Indeed, several of the the games’ stars offered group praise and cautious optimism in their post-match interviews with FS1’s Katie Witham. “I can’t really complement the boys enough. I think everyone has done their job, and that’s all we asked, and it was a real professional performance,” said striker Bradley Wright-Phillips, whose game-opening goal rattled the Fire and made for his 99th for the team.
And who could take a lot of the credit, he said? The owner of one of the best ’staches in the game, midfielder Sacha Kljestan, alternately a hero and punching bag online. Tonight, he proved the former – and earned a special broadcast shout-out from Wright-Phillips.
“He was brilliant. That’s what we want from him,” the latter said of Kljestan, who followed his teammate's opening salvo with the game's second goal. “When he plays well, the team plays well, and you can see that tonight.”
Kljestan, for his part, expressed no regrets or critiques to FS1’s Witham. “We played with aggression,” he said. “I feel like we played like the home team tonight.”
There’s no doubt, he acknowledged, that facing Toronto FC in the Eastern Conference Semifinals next week presents a tough, if not monumental, task. “I think they’re probably the best team in MLS history so it’s going to be tough,” he said. “Of course we’re going to go up against [Sebastian] Giovinco and [Jozy] Altidore and Victor Vazquez — the three-headed monster. It’s going to be tough but I like our chances. We’ll see.”
Rising, young team star Tyler Adams – who notched an assist on Kljestan's goal -- added his own optimistic note. “We have a lot of confidence in our group right now,” he said. “We’re going to come out flying again, emphasize our tactics again and hopefully it works.”
