The Red Bulls will head down to FC Dallas for a blistering afternoon game Sunday knowing a draw will run their unbeaten streak to four, but hoping for a win that will guarantee them at least a share of the lead in the Eastern Conference.
“Dallas has got a great team, they’ve been on a great run,’’ said Tim Cahill, back from a hamstring injury. “At the same time, we’re on the back of two wins and a draw, and definitely looking forward to trying to continue that. They’re a good team. We’ve already looked at what they’re great at, and hopefully we can exploit them away from home and try to get a win, or even an away draw.’’
Either would help the Red Bulls (2-2-5, 11 points), who came into Saturday in a four-way tie for second place in tightly packed Eastern Conference, just a point behind first-place Columbus. But with the Crew idle, a win Sunday at Toyota Stadium (2:30 p.m., MSG) would ensure at least a share of the lead.
“It’s another game on the road for us. We had a lot of those since the beginning of the season, but we have to manage that,’’ said captain Thierry Henry, who developed chemistry with striker Bradley Wright-Phillips (four goals in the last two games in place of Cahill). “It’s going to be difficult. They’re playing well.
“At the moment we’re playing well, too, although we didn’t win against Columbus. But I think that we’re playing well and it’s going to be a difficult game — hot, as we know — and they’re playing well. They’re passing the ball on the ground, scoring goals, good on set pieces, good at passing the ball, so it’s going to be up to us to try to see if we can upset them and score a goal.’’
FC Dallas was rolling, but it’s arguable whether they still are. While the Red Bulls opened the season winless in their first six before turning things around, FC Dallas was undefeated in their first five before dropping two of their past three and getting overtaken by Seattle for the Western Conference lead.
“We’re cross-country, 90-degree heat against a team that’s doing well,’’ coach Mike Petke said. “So our mind-set’s going to be a little bit different, but our tenacity, our bite, and the game plan remains the same. We have to do what we need to do to win and to get a result.’’
Even more auspicious for a Red Bulls result is the fact FC Dallas will be shorthanded, with defender Zach Loyd and midfielder Michel serving red-card suspensions, Kellyn Acosta, Andrés Escobar, George John and Peter Luccin injured, and Mauro Diaz in doubt.
Though FC Dallas denied reports by Spanish-language outlet Al Día that Diaz was out for the year with a knee injury and officially is listing the 23-year-old playmaker as day-to-day, it’s unlikely the Red Bulls will have to face him Sunday. That could give them an edge in midfield, Cahill seemingly more likely to displace Peguy Luyindula at midfield than Wright-Phillips at forward.
“We have 24 guys available, and it’s been a while since they’ve all been available. Now there’s some decisions to be made,’’ Petke said. “But at the end of the day it’s going to help us. It gives us more of that depth back, so the team we put out Sunday is the team that we feel is going to really help us get a result.’’