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New York Bragging Rights

Red Bulls Vanquish NYCFC & Cosmos, Claim City Crown

In the space of four days the New Jersey-based New York Red Bulls defeated New York City FC and the second-tier New York Cosmos, giving fans bragging rights across the tri-state area. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
July 02, 2015
1:20 PM

HARRISON, N.J.—The soccer scene is heating up in and around New York City.

With the return of the New York Cosmos in 2013 and the debut of New York FC earlier this year, professional soccer has taken root in the region, and rivalries are blossoming. Fans and officials for both new teams have made no secret of their desire to dethrone the Red Bulls as New York’s leading team but over the past four days the Red Bulls have proved that any such talk will have to wait.

On Sunday the Red Bulls crossed the Hudson and Harlem rivers to play NYCFC in Yankee Stadium. To the surprise of exactly nobobdy, the New Jersey-based Red Bulls cruised to a 3-1 win over the Bronx ballers in MLS action.

Last night the Red Bulls easily vanquished the Cosmos along the shores of the Passaic River, 4-1, to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

“It has been a lot of fun,” Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch said after his team won its second New York derby in four days. “Certainly we have shown, not just in the last two games, but I think we have shown that we are a good team and deserve to be treated as the premier club in New York City. That has meant a lot to us and we have taken a lot of pride in stepping on the field and showing that.”

Red Bull players admitted they were particularly motivated last night to avenge an embarrassing defeat in last year’s Open Cup, when the second-tier Cosmos defeated the MLS side 3-0. Dating back to its Metrostars days, the franchise has frequently been criticized for not taking the Open Cup seriously and instead playing mostly reserve players.

In 2011, then head coach Hans Backe didn’t even make the trip to Chicago for an Open Cup contest. Last year in the loss to the Cosmos, most of the first-choice players were absent and the Cosmos clearly wanted the win more. With the heavy changes in personnel in the offseason which brought a new sporting director and head coach, there was a promise to take this tournament more seriously. So far it has paid off as Marsch has started top players in each of the team’s first two Open Cup games.

“Lloyd [Sam] is the one within our group that referenced last year and said that he absolutely wanted payback and that it was important and that we handled it the right way,” Marsch said last night. “Dax was also one of them. He was mad because he wasn't able to play last year so he wanted to play this year and make sure that it didn't slip away.”

The regional dominance is not lost on many of the players who have strong local ties to the New York area.

Mike Grella joined the Red Bulls in the offseason after a few years in Europe and has emerged as a key player. He scored the final goal against the Cosmos Wednesday—a delightful strike that included some deft dribbling and a low shot that flew past Cosmos goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer.

 The Long Island native was particularly pleased with the result.

Red Bulls "management has given me my chances,” Grella said. “I will never forget that. They gave me a chance to come back from Europe. Especially, when a lot of teams where making it difficult for me, including the Cosmos and NYFC. No doubt this place is my home and I feel a real connection to them. I'm very happy to get a good result against these teams and prove that right now we are the best team in New York.”

Marsch praised Grella's performance Wednesday this season and the goal was just another piece of evidence.

“Mike's goal was fantastic,” Marsch said. “We have seen some amazing goals from Mike in training. Stuff like that that is almost off of the playground. Cutting guys and making them look foolish sliding around and just under control shifting through players. Mike has been gaining so much confidence in the last two months and now it is finally paying off in goals and plays.

"I am happy for him, again I have referenced it but there is some negativity surrounding him publicly, which I think, is totally unwarranted and you can put him up with one of the most important guys on our team this year. Great goal for Mike.”

Sacha Kljestan is a California native but played his college soccer at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.. Kljestan is looking to get back into the U.S. national team conversation and has taken his game to another level the past two games against area foes. He has a goal and three assists in the games against the local opponents.

Last night, he converted a penalty to give the Red Bulls a 3-1 lead.

“It certainly feels good,” Kljestan said. “It always feels a little bit better when you beat your rivals and so to win at NYCFC over the weekend felt really good, and I guess it felt probably a little bit extra special for us for the way that we did (win) the way we came back and the mentality we showed and how good we played in the second half. And tonight was just a mentality game, and I've said that all along going into these games against lower division teams if our mentality matches theirs our technique and our skill and how good we are will shine through. Today that was the case.”

Matt Miazga, 20, a Clifton, N.J. native, has made huge strides in the last few months and also felt the added significance of these regional rivalries. 

“It's very important—especially for the fans, for bragging rights,” Miazga said. “It gives us a boost and extra confidence that we're the team in New York. We beat NYCFC a few nights ago and now the Cosmos. We have that extra edege and now we're building momentum in the league. We have three wins in a row.

“We wanted to get revenge on the Cosmos,” the U.S. youth international added. “They whooped us last year 3-0. It was good to come to this game focused and motivated to beat them. One of our priorities this year is to win the Open Cup. This was the next step toward achieving that goal. We wanted to come out and put the game on our terms, press them, and make them uncomfortable.

"I thought we did that. The scoreline reflected that."

 Brian Sciaretta is an American Soccer Now columnist and an ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter.

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