Looking back at the Super Sunday victory

As the league is currently taking the November international break to allow players to join their respective national teams across the globe, Red Bulls fans are currently on hiatus as they wait for Sunday, November 25th to come and travel down south as the New York Red Bulls, will face Atlanta United down at Mercedes Benz Stadium.

There is so much to think about and so much is on the line as the current Supporters Shield holders are going to get back to business, when they take on one of the hottest young teams in MLS, as they face this side that has plenty of explosive players that can score on you within a blink of an eye.

But while there must be a level of patience that must come to all of us who are waiting for that moment. When the opening whistle blows this Eastern Conference Final will be fun to watch, this is the moment where everyone will need several boxes of Kleenex Tissues, to stop the waterfall of drool from leaking out of their mouths.

So why not look back nearly a week ago when the Red Bulls had their backs on the wall, but they backs weren’t firmly on the wall as a one goal aggregate deficit against the Columbus Crew wasn’t that big of a deal to come back from.

So many years in the past when this club was behind the eight ball, there was that moment where you could say, I’ve seen this before. I have seen this situation played out many, many times and I know exactly how it’s going to end up. Well this time that situation was different.

From the opening whistle by referee Alan Kelly, the New York Red Bulls were switched on and ready to attack, at the same time the crowd inside Red Bull Arena was electric and hungry to see this squad make a comeback and put themselves into a position where not many Metro/RBNY sides have been in.

When the foul was awarded to the Red Bulls as Will Trapp fouled Bradley Wright-Phillips, you were hoping to see a savvy free kick being taken and try to force the issue early. After Sean Davis delivered a solid cross from the far side to the near maybe there was hope.

Daniel Royer was in perfect position to head that ball back across inside the area and while we all thought Aaron Long found a way to convert that chance, we didn’t expect Alex Muly to put his right boot in the right place to fool Zach Steffen and the start of the downfall for the Crew began.

But once again there was a little bit of doubt that might have been creeping into the minds of the supporters as the score line showed 1-0 in the second leg, but 1-1 on aggregate as two things might be happening. After the full ninety minutes might come. Either the match goes into extra time due to the leveled aggregate, or the Crew might sneak in an away goal, since the Red Bulls never converted in Columbus.

But those fears were wiped away by Daniel Royer, as he found a way to cement the result by scoring twice within three minutes. After a solid passing display that started by BWP who found Muyl, then a quick pass to Tyler Adams, who finds Royer all alone and takes a cross body shot to beat Steffen.

The his second goal of the night came, as Royer got a great pass from Kaku and took the run all by himself. Sure he could’ve passed it to BWP, but Wright-Phillips was in an offside position and Royer didn’t want to take that chance. So he cuts across the middle of the pitch, ripped a top shelf shot that Steffen caught late and the fears and worries ended.

At two goals to nil extra time was removed, at three goals to nil one away goal from the Crew wasn’t going to threaten the aggregate, but it might have put the fear back into the minds of the supporters.

But the one thing you could tell from start to finish was that this Red Bulls side never switched off, they never took a break, they never assumed this match was already over. Great job by both Adams & Davis as both players shutdown Federico Higuaín & Justin Meram and never gave them a chance to be dangerous.

Chris Armas has grown up quickly since he was appointed the new head coach of the club before the July 8th road match at New York City FC, you can tell he is using some tweaks inside the game plan of the press, which means things have tighten up defensively very well. It also means their attack has improved, by being more dangerous when they have the ball.

So while we wait for this international break to be over, it’s going to be fantastic to see some of the guys returning from International duty and putting on their kits, to face Atlanta United who so far haven’t done well against this Red Bulls side. But that’s why they play the games, to see if the Red Bulls can continue that dominance into the post season.