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It’s now time for another tough derby match, as only a few days after their win in the nation’s capital, the New York Red Bulls will face rival New York City FC inside Yankee Stadium in the Bronx tonight.
The Red Bulls’ only summer transfer window signing, Southampton loanee Josh Sims, is very excited and eager to show what he can do out on the pitch.
“I’ve been speaking to the boys about (the rivalry), they said it’s a really good derby,” Sims said. “So, it’s a great first game to come into, looking forward to it.”
“It’s an unusual situation to be in,” Sims added. “Obviously, the season’s different than back home in England. But, no, it’s good experience for me. It’s good because I’m straight into the football. Obviously, got a few games left now to get into the playoffs, so it’s good for me to just sort of get straight into the deep end.”
This will be the fourth meeting between Chris Armas and Dome Torrent. The Red Bulls skipper carries an even record of 1-1-1 in those matches. On Friday after training, he gave praise to the coach in the opposite technical area.
“Dome, for me, you talk about coaches of the year - I know Bob (Bradley), you can hardly argue with that, it’s going to be a record-breaking type of thing for LAFC. But, I think NYCFC, when you lose David Villa and you think how difficult could life be? For me, (Dome) has done such a good job over there.”
Atlanta United created some room for itself at the top of the Eastern Conference on Friday night – getting to 48 points with a 1-0 win over Orlando – but only four points separate second place Philadelphia Union at 45 and the fourth place Red Bulls at 41, with City sandwiched between at 44.
Going from one rivalry game to the next in a short span brings positives and negatives. It helps the Red Bulls get up for the game, but as a “sore” Luis Robles pointed out, it also makes the turnaround difficult.
“It’s all part of the Heineken Rivalry Week,” Robles joked. “The schedule hasn’t done us any favors, but it's O.K. I think the one thing that’s helpful is, because the games have so much on the line, with it being a rivalry, it’s easy to get up for it.”