3 Thoughts: Red Bulls enter the Champions League

While the New York Red Bulls scored 2 goals against C.D. FAS and shut them out (matching the Montreal Impact's Goal Difference), the scoreline isn't really reflective of how the Red Bulls played. The offense missed plenty of changes to run up the scoreline, and should have won by 6 or 7 easily. While having the extra goals would've helped down the road (GD is the 1st tiebreaker), the 2-0 win sets up the Red Bulls to take the group easily if they can pull off a win at Montreal on September 17th.

Sene played a full 90 minutes in his first start for the Red Bulls, and things look promising. Sene opened the scoring for the Red Bulls with a goal after settling a Tim Cahill header. He did miss some absolute sitters, especially one late in the first half, but overall it was a positive performance. He linked up well with no only Cahill, but Lloyd Sam, Eric Alexander, and Dax McCarty. He won't be starting over Bradley Wright-Phillips anytime soon, but if tonight is any indication, then the Red Bulls got the better of the Sene/Andre Akpan trade.

With the loss, C.D. FAS has no mathematical shot at finishing #1 in the group. That means that the Red Bulls game at C.D. FAS on September 24th will be a huge trap game as FAS will have nothing to play for. The Red Bulls will be going into that game either tied or trailing the Impact in the standings. It will be a critical game for the Red Bulls if they hope to advance.