Red Bulls Bring Home Final Spot in Playoffs

HARRISON, N.J. — On a cool autumn night, the Red Bulls were at their most crisp and intense when anything less would have been unacceptable. Playing without their suspended captain and leading scorer, Thierry Henry, the Red Bulls took advantage of an early goal to defeat the Philadelphia Union, 1-0, before their fourth sellout crowd of the season at Red Bull Arena and pocket the 10th and final playoff berth in Major League Soccer. The team is unbeaten when scoring first under Coach Hans Backe.

Now it is time for the Red Bulls to sit back over the weekend and watch the rest of the games play out before finding who they will play in the first round of the postseason. The only certainty is that the match will be on the road, next Wednesday or Thursday.

“This season has been crazy, with injuries, national team call-ups, all the ties,” defender Tim Ream said. “It’s something I don’t ever want to experience again.”

After an abysmal summer in which the Red Bulls went eight games without a victory, the team now has a clean slate and the belief that it is capable of raising its game. The mantra was that they would be dangerous if they reached the playoffs. Now they will have a chance validate those sentiments.

“I think there are a lot of teams out there that don’t want to see the Red Bulls in the playoffs,” said defender Jan Gunnar Solli, whose cross from the right led to an own goal in the eighth minute of play. “It’s about restarting our season. We showed passion tonight. It shows we have a big potential. Yes, it’s been a bumpy season, but tonight we had a bit of luck and a good performance.”

Dax McCarty was slotted into the midfield in Henry’s absence while Luke Rodgers and Dane Richards, perhaps the two shortest players on any team’s front line, threatened the Union with their speed. Minutes into the match, McCarty sent Solli down the right flank with a lead pass. Solli touched the ball once and hit a cross into the 6-yard box where Richards, only 5 feet 7 inches, lost his marker, leaped and got his head to the ball. It bounded off the near post, hit the back of Philadelphia goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon and rolled into the net.

Richards and header are not words that usually go together. Asked if he had ever seen himself using his head to make a difference, Richards smiled and said: “I’d probably laugh at you. I was just trying to keep the ball on target.”

The Red Bulls, who finished 10-8-16 for 46 points, played with more commitment, intensity and flair than they had most of the season. They played as if the game mattered, which it most certainly did. There are many playoff possibilities, enough to give the most ardent mathematician a headache.

“We’re in, that’s all that counts,” Backe said. “This game means so much after such a rough season.”

He added: “This game is special because we’ve given away so many games with unforced errors. For this game we needed to be direct and a bit cynical. Don’t give away chances. Today we were direct, trying to get long balls to Luke and Dane.”

Philadelphia, playing in its second season in M.L.S., came into the match with a chance to take over first place in the Eastern Conference. Coached by Peter Nowak, the club was hoping to secure one of the top three spots in the conference and earn a first-round bye. Now Philadelphia could fall into the four-team play-in that starts the postseason.

Throughout the season, the Union have been sparked by the play of the tireless striker Sebastien Le Toux, who leads the team with 11 goals. But against the Red Bulls, Le Toux was shadowed tenaciously by Teemu Tainio in the midfield, then by Stephen Keel and Ream on the back line.

“Our key was to find him at every point on the field,” Backe said. “He has phenomenal timing and he’s able to spin and find the ball with his speed. The key was for us to put on pressure up high on the pitch and force the play.”

The Red Bulls could easily have put the game away in the first 45 minutes had it not been for Mondragon. Other than his unfortunate mistake on the own goal, he denied scoring attempts by Richards in the 17th minute, Rodgers in the 27th and Joel Lindpere in the 43rd minute.

No matter. The lone goal stood up and the regular season is only a painful memory, easily forgotten.