HARRISON, N.J.— With three games left in the season, the race for the Supporters’ Shield is on and appears destined to go down to Decision Day.
The New York Red Bulls welcomed Atlanta United to Red Bull Arena on Sunday and delivered an infallible performance in a 2-0 win, with goals from Daniel Royer and Tim Parker. New York were without suspended Bradley Wright-Phillips and injured Tyler Adams but still overwhelmed the Shield-leaders for a thoroughly deserved victory.
“They’re the league’s darling, everyone talks about Atlanta,” goalkeeper Luis Robles told MLSsoccer.com after the game. “Deservingly so, they’re a really good team and have some amazing players. With that being said, we know that with today’s result it’s going to make the rest of the season interesting.”
If Atlanta got a result, the race for the Shield would have been all but over. Yet still, despite the loss, Atlanta won’t lament a missed opportunity.
“We’re one point ahead with three games to go, it’s still in our hands,” Julian Gressel said. “You gotta take the positives from a game like this. They’re a good team, we’re still one point ahead. That No. 1 is still to the left of our name and not their name.”
Gressel is right; Atlanta remain a point ahead of New York, something Brad Guzan was quick to point out while adding Atlanta won’t dwell on the loss.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, are we still one point ahead? So, there’s three games to go,” Guzan said. “We turn our focus to New England. There’s no need to panic.”
Sean Davis agrees with both Gressel and Guzan, insisting that Atlanta are still the favorites for the Shield despite the point gap closing.
“I think Atlanta is still in the driver’s seat,” Davis said. “We’re putting pressure on them, doing everything possible to give ourselves the best chance. It’s important for us to go into the playoffs with good momentum and continue to improve. The big picture is MLS Cup and we know we still have some things we want to improve on.”
MLS Cup could very well go through New York or Atlanta. With both clubs looking like MLS’ best, there’s a good chance these two will meet over two legs in the playoffs at full strength.
The Red Bulls are now 3-0-1 against ATL since the Five Stripes entered the league last season, inciting simple, yet effective, chants of “you can’t beat us” and “who’s your daddy?” that echoed around Red Bull Arena during stoppage time, pierced only by the referee’s final whistle.
RBNY head coach Chris Armas galvanized the crowd in those closing moments, feeding off their energy, asking for more noise. After that final whistle, Tata Martino appeared to skip out on shaking Armas’ hand. The Atlanta head coach confirmed that speculation, adding he “prefers coaches who keep a low profile."
