The New York Red Bulls are trying to climb into the main postseason draw of the Eastern Conference, while Toronto FC is attempting to move into the top nine and get above the playoff cut line.
The teams, each trying to bolster their positioning with five games remaining, meet Saturday night when the Red Bulls host Toronto in Harrison, N.J.
The Red Bulls (10-13-6, 36 points) begin the weekend in eighth place, ahead of Cincinnati on the tiebreaker of total wins. Both teams have 36 points. New York also is two points behind seventh-place Orlando, which has 11 victories.
The top seven seeds from each conference advance directly to best-of-three first-round play, while the Nos. 8 and 9 seeds meet in a single-elimination game, with the winner advancing to face the No. 1 seed.
New York is 3-2-0 in its past five matches following a 0-4-2 skid and hopes to build on an improved showing at home after rolling to a 4-1 win over visiting FC San Diego last week. However, the Red Bulls followed that result with a disappointing 2-1 loss at D.C. United on Wednesday.
New York was held to one goal or fewer for the 19th time and played from behind after conceding the opening goal in the fifth minute. The Red Bulls could not score despite six shots on target and playing against 10 D.C. players for the final 22 minutes.
“We continue to understand that this time of year the margins are tight and when you play big games, you have to be at your best in every way,” New York coach Michael Bradley said. “Tonight in some key moments, we came up a little bit short and now we have to be ready to regroup quickly and get ready for a big home match on Saturday night.”
Toronto (7-10-12, 33 points) sits in 11th place, three points outside the final playoff spot. Toronto is 2-8-3 on the road, and four of its final five matches are away from home.
Toronto is 4-3-5 in its past 12 matches following a 12-game winless skid from April 11 to July 31. Toronto left two points on the table Wednesday after surrendering a lead by allowing two goals in six minutes before Matheus Pereira scored the tying goal in the 89th minute of a 3-3 draw against Orlando.
“I think that if our belief remains as high as it’s been recently, I think we can definitely do something and get this team into the playoffs, where it belongs,” Toronto forward Theo Corbeanu said.
If Toronto is to continue its playoff push, it will do so without three starting defenders. Richie Laryea and Benjamin Kuscevic are suspended due to yellow-card accumulation, while Walker Zimmerman will miss a third straight game with an ankle injury.
The teams played to a 1-1 draw in Toronto in mid-March.
–Field Level Media
