We’re going to wrap this blog up now. What a game! Thanks for reading. Bye!
Just watching the goals again. What a farce! Rob Stone on Fox: “If this was college football, the defensive coordinator would get fired for this.”
That was truly astonishing. New York City FC were poor in the first half, and went in 0-3 down, but they just fell apart in the second. It was just so easy for the Red Bulls. Four goals they scored from corners: NYC just stood and watched. No one emerged with any credit for the home side. They were utterly pathetic. What does Patrick Vieira say?
Bradley Wright-Phillips gets it about right: “We were unbelievable.”
Full-time: NYC FC 0-7 New York Red Bulls
And one of the craziest games in MLS history comes to an end.
90 min +3: NYC force a corner. There’ll be time to take it. Wide from Brillant.
Updated
90 min +1: Three minutes of stoppage time. How in the world do you lose 0-7 at home – and concede four of those goals from corners? It was played in by Felipe, I think, Mikey Lopez took a wild swing and completely missed it, and Gideon Baah stabbed home from about two yards. Insane.
90 min: I’m speechless. What the hell is going on?
GOAL! NYC FC 0-7 New York Red Bulls (Baah 90)
Incredible. Can you believe this?
89 min: Lots and lots of empty seats in the stadium now. The Red Bulls win another corner.
88 min: NYC FC have given up. The Red Bulls are all over them like a cheap suit. This truly is a hammering.
86 min: And Sam lifts one over the top from six yards! That really should have been seven. This is unbelievable!
84 min: More defensive nonsense from NYC FC. A cross to the back post, Saunders completely flapped at it, and no one picked up Veron, who headed into an empty net from about four yards. This is a joke.
GOAL! NYC FC 0-6 New York Red Bulls (Veron 83)
Six! This is ridiculous!
82 min: Now Harrison concedes a needless foul by the corner flag. NYC FC have been terrible today.
81 min: Veron does well to force a corner. And another chance for the visitors! Baah went close, and Muyl also, but NYC hustle it behind for a corner. The boos from the home fans are becoming much louder.
80 min: Oh, Sam should have made it six! Great clipped ball over the top from McCarty, and Sam ran beyond Hernandez, but stabbed it over the bar! He didn’t quite sort his feet out, and was off balance as he hit it, but that was a real chance. Gideon Baah on for Sacha Kljestan, who has extended his assist record this season to eight. The Red Bulls are going five at the back: they want this clean sheet.
78 min: Mendoza runs through the middle again, but Collin does ever so well to come back and get across. Mendoza has so much pace, and streaked clear, but excellent covering defence from the Frenchman.
77 min: The Red Bulls still pressing high. Their strategy has worked a treat today.
75 min: Pirlo’s free kick … just wide! And that’s his final action: Frank Lampard is on! To a less-than-enthusiastic welcome from the home fans.
74 min: Oh, Lade gets a yellow, but could that have been red? Villa picks it up 40 yards from goal, looks to feed Mendoza, running beyond the backline, but Lade pulls him back! Just a yellow – I suppose there were covering defenders. But it was deeply cynical.
73 min: Still no sign of Frank Lampard.
72 min: Harrison wins a corner. Pirlo takes it short, then Matarrita gives it back to him, but Pirlo is offside. Doh.
70 min: NYC FC force a corner. Pirlo takes, headed clear, Mendoza stabs it back, and how did Robles save that? David Villa just completely missed his kick! From about five yards! He had the whole goal to aim at, and just pushed one at the goalkeeper. Sums up NYC’s day.
68 min: Pirlo finds Villa in the box, but his shot is wide. Substitution for NYC: Steven Mendoza replaces Khiry Shelton.
66 min: Jesse Marsch with some words of encouragement for the substitute. “Come on, Gonzalo. Mucho trabajo!” Felipe is down again. It looks like he took a whack in the face.
Updated
65 min: Headed behind for another corner. And Muyl from close range! Oh, that was a chance. He got underneath it. Another wicked ball in from Kljestan: the quality of his set pieces is something else. Bradley Wright-Phillips’ day is done; he’s replaced by Gonzalo Veron.
64 min: Another Red Bulls corner. Let’s hope NYC remember to defend.
63 min: Oh, Muyl across the six-yard box, but no one could turn it home! Hernandez whacks it clear. Now NYC break at speed, and Villa surges through the middle, but his shot is miles too high.
62 min: Here’s a nice stat: McCarty has played 11 years in this league, 260 games, and before today had never scored two in a single game. NYC’s corner, and Pirlo takes, but Robles comes to claim after a moment of panic.
60 min: Red Bulls look like they’re hungry for more goals. Kljestan tries to dribble through the middle, and now Wright-Phillips takes it up, but he’s offside.
59 min: This is now NYC FC’s worst ever loss. In 2006, the Red Bulls beat RSL 6-0. Could they equal this here?
58 min: Jack Harrison, MLS’s No1 draft pick, replaces Tommy McNamara. What a time to come on.
57 min: Another terrible piece of defending by NYC. They gave it away – Brillant, I think it was – trying to play out from the back, Wright-Phillips seized upon it, fed Muyl, who smacked it past Saunders from 15 yards. Lovely finish, but he had so much space. What is happening?!
GOAL! NYC FC 0-5 New York Red Bulls (Muyl 56)
Oh my word. This is a farce!
55 min: Well, this is going to snap NYC FC’s all-time unbeaten run of, um, five. This has been so poor. “This is an utter embarrassment,” sniffs Lalas.
53 min: Alex Muyl replaces Mike Grella, who had been feeling his hamstring. This has been seriously impressive from the visitors.
52 min: It was a mirror of the first goal. Kljestan’s corner from the left this time, and again, McCarty was totally free, and he pushed another header beyond Saunders. The defending was abject.
GOAL! NYC FC 0-4 New York Red Bulls (McCarty 51)
Another corner, another McCarty header, and this is a rout.
50 min: Wright-Phillips for his hat-trick … and Saunders tips it over the bar! Corner.
49 min: So much space for Red Bulls on the counter, and Sam crosses from the right, and everyone missed it! Now McCarty tries to slip it in for Lade, but NYC are back to clear.
48 min: Free kick for the hosts. Pirlo tales it short, and now Matarrita wide left wins the throw. Nothing comes of it.
We're back!
46 min: No changes for either side. NYC FC have to pick it up.
Here’s more on Jurgen Klinsmann’s Copa America squad:
So the big news from Klinsmann is probably the Morris omission. Brad Evans and Mix Diskerud are also left out, but Darlington Nagbe is in, and Chris Wondolowski is rewarded for some good recent form. Ethan Horvath is the third-choice goalkeeper; Nick Rimando misses out.
Klinsmann names USA Copa Centenario squad
Goalkeepers: Guzan, Howard, Horvath.
Defenders: Besler, Birnbaum, Brooks, Cameron, Chandler, Johnson, Orozco, Yedlin.
Midfielders: Beckerman, Bedoya, Bradley, Jones, Kitchen, Nagbe, Pulisic, Zusi.
Forwards: Dempsey, Wondolowski, Wood, Zardes.
So Jordan Morris is left out. And Klinsmann confirms Brad Guzan is the No1 goalkeeper.
The Red Bulls have been completely in control. NYC have been hesitant in defence, sloppy in midfield, and impotent in attack. If they don’t get it together, this could be five or six.
Patrick Vieira looks thoroughly downbeat. “It’s been a disaster. I think we didn’t play at all, and nothing more to say. It’s been a really bad first 45. We didn’t turn up; we didn’t play, and we couldn’t live with the importance of the game.”
Half-time: NYC FC 0-3 New York Red Bulls
That’s the half.
45 min +3: A disaster for the home side. Grella played it in from the left, NYC FC couldn’t clear, and Wright-Phillips just reacted quickest. Brillant might have done better, but Wright-Phillips got his body in position, and volleyed past Saunders, who might have done better.
GOAL! NYC FC 0-3 New York Red Bulls (Wright-Phillips 45 +2)
Wright-Phillips again! NYC FC have fallen apart.
45 min: Three minutes of stoppage time. Robles is quickly out to gather as Villa looked to pounce.
44 min: Nearly three for Wright-Phillips! More top work from Grella, and Wright-Phillips slid in, but it was deflected wide. Kljestan’s ball in is cleared, and NYC FC can regroup.
43 min: Patrick Vieira looks chastened. His team just haven’t been at it. Red Bulls much the better side.
42 min: Superb work from Grella down the left. He completely befuddled Allen, crossed with his left, and Wright-Phillips headed past Saunders from six yards. Less than stellar defending from NYC FC, but Grella did brilliantly.
GOAL! NYC FC 0-2 New York Red Bulls (Wright-Phillips 42)
It’s two!
Updated
38 min: McCarty is back on after treatment. He’s a tough cookie, and he’ll be OK. Lopez has a go, but it’s mishit, and Robles gathers easily.
Here’s Scott Bassett: “Sorry, but a baseball stadium is exactly what those fans deserve. Where have they been for the last 20 years? Watching baseball, not the local soccer team back when they were MetroStars.”
37 min: Well, it’s a yellow card for Tommy McNamara. He went in late on McCarty, and got the Red Bulls player right on the shin. Then everybody piled in and we had a giant melee, but McNamara is the only one to receive a card, which is probably about right. It was a week late, the challenge, but let’s say clumsy rather than malicious. McCarty looks in pain, though.
36 min: Oh boy. McCarty is down, and we have what we might call a “flashpoint”. Lots of bodies, finger jabbing and jostling in midfield.
35 min: The Red Bulls look dangerous in attack. Kljestan advances down the left side, but can’t quite get past Allen, and NYC smash it clear.
34 min: Kljestan’s kick, and Collin wins another header! But he can’t quite get the power, and it’s easy for Saunders.
33 min: Wright-Phillips streaks clear on the right, and wins his side a corner.
32 min: Bad giveaway from NYC, trying to play out from the back, and Sam is quickly on to it … into the penalty area, and goes past Hernandez, but his touch runs away from him and it’s out for a goal kick. Hernandez took a chance then by going to ground; if Sam had fallen, Chris Penso would have had a decision to make.
Updated
30 min: Alexi Lalas on commentary is lamenting the fact this game is being played in a baseball park. “These fans deserve better,” he says. Quite right. Now a yellow card for Bravo after some jostling in the six yard box.
28 min: Pirlo’s second excellent long pass, and Shelton has a dip from range. It’s deflected, and Allen will throw it long. Headed clear by the Red Bulls, but every throw in the final third is going long. Imagine what mischief Rory Delap could cause on this tiny pitch.
26 min: Wright-Phillips wanted a corner after tussling with Hernandez from a McCarty long ball, but he fouled the NYC defender, and it’s a free kick. Connor Lade is back on the field.
25 min: Now Connor Lade has a problem. Did he get a smack in the ribs? There’s a stoppage in play, and we can take a breather.
24 min: This is better from the hosts; they’ve managed to string a few passes together in the opposition half.
23 min: Oh, Villa! He checked back inside when he should have shot, and allowed the defender to recover. Corner. Frederic Brillant wanted a penalty on that last set piece, by the way, and he might have got it; I think he was shoved by Collin. Pirlo’s ball in is cleared, and Allen smacks it back it, but it’s over the bar.
21 min: Pirlo takes it quickly, and it’s headed behind by Grella. Another corner. And everyone missed it! Was there some pulling in the area?
20 min: Great pass from Pirlo for Matarrita, but that’s good defending from Zizzo to head the corner away. Twenty minutes in and we’ve seen very little from NYC in attack. But then Villa has a dribble and shot, and it’s deflected by a corner.
19 min: Pirlo is back on – and his first moment of action is to stick an elbow in Collin’s head. Collin didn’t make a meal of it, but that was bad from the Italian. No card.
18 min: Sam wins the Red Bulls’ third corner. Collin wins it, but it loops up in the air, and Saunders claims.
17 min: Mikey Lopez goes in hard on Connor Lade, and that’s a booking for the NYC man. He’ll now miss the Orlando game. It was late; it was deserved.
Here’s Jonny Mac: “Hello Tim, I’m watching in USA! USA! USA! on Fox Sports and I’m sure the commentator described McCarty as ‘the player with the mutant gene’. Anyone else hear this or is it just me?”
15 min: Ooh, that was a bit naughty from Lloyd Sam: his caught his studs right on top of Pirlo’s knee. No card, though. Pirlo hobbles off momentarily. Let’s hope he’s OK to continue.
Updated
14 min: Pirlo gets clattered by Sam, but Chris Penso says play on, as the hosts had the advantage. It comes to nothing. Pirlo, who turned 37 on Thursday, is still down.
13 min: Pirlo looks for Villa, who tried to dummy for McNamara, but Zizzo steps in to win it. Red Bulls looking confident, and that’s a super piece of skill from Grella to Allen. Throw in by the corner flag, and Aurelien Collin comes up from the back. Cleared by NYC, but the Red Bulls win it back. The hosts just can’t establish any sort of possession.
10 min: Villa, who loves to run in behind, is whistled for another offside, and he’s not happy. NYC struggling to get it going in attack.
8 min: Set piece for the Red Bulls, 45 yards from goal. Played in by Kljestan, and Collin gets up highest! Deflected, and another corner, but this time Saunders punches well, and the hosts shuffle it clear.
7 min: That’s now seven assists this season for Kljestan – two more than Gio dos Santos and Mauro Diaz. Great ‘tache, too.
5 min: We should credit Kljestan for a great ball in from the corner. But the marking was poor – I think it was Matarrita lost McCarty. Now Sam has a go from distance from Wright-Phillips’ lay-off, but it’s wide. Red Bulls on top here.
Updated
4 min: Connor Lade’s long throw caused confusion, and NYC put it behind for a corner. From the set piece, McCarty, who’s barely 5ft 8in, got up highest and planted a lovely header past Saunders. Super finish from the Red Bulls skipper, but the marking was dreadful. Game on!
GOAL! NYC FC 0-1 New York Red Bulls (McCarty 3)
What a start for the visitors!
Updated
2 min: Early touch for Luis Robles, who makes his 119th consecutive start in MLS. It’s the most in history, breaking Chris Klein’s record. And a first look for David Villa through the middle, and he workes Robles – but the flag is up for offside.
Updated
And we're off!
1 min: NYC in their traditional sky blue; the Red Bulls in classic red and white. About 40,000 in attendance in the Bronx. It’s lit. Sort of.
The teams are out on the pitch. We’re close. New York fell back to second in the East last night after Philadelphia Union beat DC United 1-0. But they left it late: Richie Marquez slid in in the 91st minute to notch his first MLS goal.
OK, come on, MLS – enough faffing around. Let’s play soccer!
So we’ll get going here in about 20 minutes or so. What can we expect from today? Well, let’s just hope today’s game isn’t hampered by the tiny Yankee Stadium pitch: the narrowness of the field means we could see a logjam in central midfield. NYC haven’t enjoyed home advantage so far this season – they’ve won just one game out of six at home. The Red Bulls have picked it up after a horror start to the season, and they’ve found some form in front of goal: Mike Grella got the game-winner against Chicago in midweek, and Bradley Wright-Phillips has begun to fire after a slow start. NYC maybe start as slight favorites, but the sides look evenly matched.
Man United have won something! And it was thanks to Jesse Lingard’s thunderbolt. Poor old Palace.
I mean, it’s hardly Arsenal’s 2003-04 Invincibles, but it’s a start:
5 - @NYCFC is unbeaten in a franchise-record 5-straight @MLS matches (3W 2D). Production.
— OptaJack (@OptaJack) May 21, 2016
We’re into extra-time in the FA Cup final. It’s like 1990 all over again. Alan Smith has the latest:
Also, it’s worth pointing out that Jürgen Klinsmann will be naming his 23-man Copa Centenario squad at half-time in this game. He’s got 17 names to trim from his preliminary squad of 40. Who should make the cut?
So we’ve got about an hour to kill before kick-off. (Actually, the 3.35pm start time probably doesn’t make too much difference; we we would have kicked off at about 3.20pm anyway. Televised MLS games are always late kicking off.)
Anyone got any thoughts?
Some news:
PROGRAM ALERT: The #FACupFinal is going into extra time! @NYCFC vs @NewYorkRedBulls will now kick off at 3:35pm ET on @FOXTV. #RivalryWeek
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) May 21, 2016
Confirmation of today’s teams:
NYC FC: Saunders, Allen, Brillant, Hernandez, Matarrita, Mikey Lopez, Bravo, Pirlo, Shelton, Villa, McNamara. Subs: Johansen, Iraola, White, Lampard, Diskerud, Harrison, Mendoza.
Red Bulls: Robles, Zizzo, Duvall, Collin, Lade, Felipe, McCarty, Sam, Kljestan, Grella, B Wright-Phillips. Subs: Reynish, Baah, Lawrence, S Wright-Phillips, Davis, Veron, Muyl.
Referee: Chris Penso
Updated
The FA Cup final has come alive in the past 10 minutes. Follow it here with Alan Smith:
So Frank Lampard is named on the bench, as does Mix Diserkud, but no Kwadwo Poku in the NYC FC 18. Bradley Wright-Phillips begins up front for the Red Bulls, and his brother Shaun starts as a substitute.
Today's lineups
Today's #NYCFC Starting XI vs. Red Bulls presented by @Wix pic.twitter.com/dgl17FRPFS
— New York City FC (@NYCFC) May 21, 2016
Your #NYDerby Starting XI.#NYisRED #RivalryWeek#NYCvNY pic.twitter.com/8wF26XJ8vJ
— #NYisRED (@NewYorkRedBulls) May 21, 2016
Hello and welcome
It’s MLS Rivalry Week, and this is the best game this weekend: Patrick Vieira’s NYC FC take on Jesse Marsch’s Red Bulls in their first derby of the season, and we’ve got something special to look forward to: Frank Lampard might play! The former Chelsea star hasn’t featured this season, but word is he could make his debut today, at least from the bench.
NYC FC are second in the Eastern Conference after a decent recent run, and can leapfrog Philly with victory; the Red Bulls started this season in rotten fashion, but have picked up recently, and have not lost to their city rivals in three games. Pirlo, David Villa, Kljestan and Felipe are all scheduled to feature, and Yankee Stadium is expecting a big crowd. This game has been featured heavily in New York; let’s hope it lives up to the hype. Kick off is 3pm ET. Join us!
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, read all about a burgeoning New York rivalry:
While tension might end with supporters verbally sparring at a subway stop – or in a scuffle outside a New Jersey bar – one glaring caveat is the derby’s absence of history. After all, City have only just embarked upon their second season, after a disappointing inaugural campaign left the club short of the playoffs. So far, the Red Bulls have coasted to victory in all three derbies, but their fans still feel overshadowed by the presence of a new team that have encroached upon their territory.
For Red Bulls fans, many of whom followed the team as the New York/New Jersey Metro Stars in the 1990s, the club owed its roots to the very first awakening of American soccer fervor. At a time when the modest MLS was overshadowed by towering American sports figures like Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter and Emmitt Smith, the Empire Supporters Club gathered at Giants Stadium to support a team that existed in obscurity.
The ESC was established in 1995 by young socialists and political radicals, many of whom fought to keep a developing tide of far right-wing extremism out of American soccer leagues. The ESC not only claims to be the oldest MLS supporters group, but the rightful heirs of New York City’s developing soccer kingdom.
Steve Ferrezza, a board member of the ESC, recalls the early days, when seats at Giants Stadium were largely empty but hearts were full, as the seeds of early fandom were planted. “I remember the days at Giants Stadium when there were only 2,000 people in the stadium. I would have to take the subway to Jersey Transit to a shuttle bus, and then run across the parking lot to get to the tailgate in time to pick up my ticket,” he says.
While things have changed, and notably for the better – the Red Bulls no longer play at the since-demolished Giants Stadium, but at their own arena in Harrison, New Jersey – Ferrezza likens the emergence of City to a privileged neighbor stealing whatever limelight the Red Bulls battled for decades to attain.
“No pun intended, but [City supporters] were basically born on third base. They didn’t have to fight for anything,” says Ferrezza.
