Around 20 supporters fought outside a gastropub in New York prior to the two side’s first ever “derby” match in the MLS.
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Only minutes before kickoff, the Red Bulls’ faithful in the South Ward got off a zinger to their Hudson River rivals, unveiling a tifo of NYC FC’s former internationals – Frank Lampard and Andrea Pirlo – with the caption, “City Retirement Home”.
The altercation took place between the Garden State Ultras, or GSU – a small but extremely vocal group of Red Bulls supporters – and fans of NYCFC before the game, and the scene was reminiscent of the European soccer hooliganism of the ’90s, something many countries worked hard to eradicate.
It’s unclear exactly what started the brawl. But after causing a disturbance on the PATH and being forced off the train en route to Harrison, when they arrived, they violated a number of Red Bull Arena policies, including tossing a flare that landed by Red Bulls’ keeper Luis Robles and forced a stoppage in play.
The Red Bulls completed a run of three consecutive away league matches with a 1-1 draw against Montreal Impact on Wednesday – a performance striker Mike Grella claimed exhibited “a little bit of maturity”.
Despite allowing two goals in an important match, NYCFC goalkeeper Josh Saunders believes his team did well to limit the Red Bulls’ chances. They threw a lot at us. This has become a heated rivalry very quickly so were really up for this game.
Didier Drogba is the best-know player for Montreal, although Wright-Phillips has arguably been English football’s most successful export to America since David Beckham at LA Galaxy.
For NYCFC coach Jason Kreis, it was about two things – missed early opportunities and questionable calls by the officials.
New York RB is second in the Eastern Conference with 33 points having won 9 games, drawn 6 and lost 6.
NYCFC have a quick turnaround until its next game on Thursday against DC United.
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“We have to win some games moving forward now against good teams, but we’re a good team and we believe in this,” NYCFC midfielder Mix Diskerud said. It was something I have never seen before to say the least.
