The Red Bulls are going straight from a statement game to a trap game.
After Saturday’s 4-0 domination of previously-first place Montreal — with a midweek friendly against Lyon thrown in for good measure — they travel to Canada for today’s game against lowly Toronto FC (4 p.m., MSG).
“Don’t take a step backwards,’’ midfielder Dax McCarty said. “A team like Toronto is more dangerous than a team that’s been on a roll. They had an unfortunate result at Chivas USA and their coach is going have them ready for this game. We’re coming off a good win and we can’t have a letdown.’’
The Red Bulls’ resounding rout on Saturday vaulted them into second place in the East, then a half-strength side played to a 2-2 tie against Lyon on Tuesday.
“It was great test and test a lot of people were looking at us to fail, especially with the caliber of players and standard of team they have. It’s good that we stepped up,” said Tim Cahill, whose Red Bulls are 8-4-3 vs. the East, including a 2-1 win at Toronto on April 27 on the strength of his brace and 89th-minute header. “Now it’s about hopefully doing it again this weekend.”
“For us, it’s just concentrating on picking up good away form, taking the home form into this weekend. You never want to take a step back, but for us I suppose it’s about us proving that and taking this momentum forward. We’ve trained well this week, but it’s only words. We have to put it [into action].’’
To a man they insist they can’t look past 2-10-7 Toronto, winless at home since March 9 and 0-3-2 over its past five games. The Red Bulls are trying to guard against an upset.
“Whatever happened last game, we need to continue,” defenseman Brandon Barklage said. We were steady throughout the entire field, not just back four but the whole team. We were scoring goals. If we’re all on our A-game, we’re a very, very tough team to beat,’’
“We had an A-plus game: All 11 players played up to their potential. That was a very good team we out down and we need to do that this weekend. … We’re definitely riding high right now, that’s all I can say.’’