3 Thoughts: RBNY tie record & secure seeding at Sporting KC

27 Goals

Bradley Wright-Phillips is now the third player in MLS history to notch 27 goals in a single season. He joins Roy Lassiter (1996) and Chris Wondolowski (2012) as having the most goals scored in a single season in MLS. His two goals tonight ties him for the overall record, but also makes him the first foreigner to hit 27 goals in a single season.

Goal #1:

Goal #2:

WATCH: Here's @TheRealBWP's goal that ties the MLS single-season goal scoring record: http://t.co/mjTR4bIKQH pic.twitter.com/a4e6o62eaT

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 27, 2014

4th Seed

With the win at Sporting Kansas City, the New York Red Bulls have secured 4th place in the Eastern Conference. It's important because the Red Bulls were going to have to play in the knock out game regardless of tonight's result because of the Columbus Crew's 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union earlier in the day. Securing 4th place allows the Red Bulls to host the knock out, and they've been a much better team at home than on the road. The Red Bulls have been much better at home (10-4-3, 34 pts, +15 GD) than they have been on the road (3-7-7, 16 pts, -10 GD). While they have played well at Sporting Park this year (1-1-0), playing at home is still a huge advantage mentally going into the midweek game.

Back line

The Red Bulls' back line was victimized (and played really poorly) in the 3-1 defeat to Columbus last week. They turned it around and held (an admittedly lackluster) Sporting at bay. While Sporting had 11 total shots, they only managed 1 on goal. The Red Bulls blocked 5 shots en route to their first shut out since October 4th (1-0 vs Houston Dynamo). This is the type of performance that the Red Bulls need as defense wins championships. Hopefully they'll be able to keep it going on Thursday and beyond.