Saturday, April 24, 2010

Matchday @Red Bull Arena: RBNY vs Philadelphia



Good morning! Another consecutive weekend at The Cathedral of Football for us, with our bitter rivals the Philadelphia Union coming to town. Actually no ball has been kicked in anger yet, between the two teams, so I say "bitter rivals" in jest - for now. I really only follow all other sports in this country very superficially (as in I wouldn't even know who won the last Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, NBA Finals) so I can't say I'm into this Philadelphia sports hate. Philly is a great city and I've had a great time when I've gone down. As a matter of fact, I found myself at the World Famous Genos Philly Cheesesteak place last year, right after a Phillies/Mets game. Lots of fans of both teams there and there was no trouble. I really can't see this coming rivalry getting into RBNY/DC territory, as I can't see Philly fans being anywhere close to the douchebags that DC fans are. Of course, I can turn out to be very wrong, but let's hope not. But anyway, lets get to some predictions:

The great Matt Conroy (Who Shot Sam) has this for us:
The Red Bulls rebound from their poor performance against FC Dallas to thump Philadelphia Union 4-1 - Richards, Angel, Ream and an own goal from Philly. Torres scores for the visitors.
So 4-1 in favor of the Red Bulls, eh? I can't say I share Matt's optimism after that very, very fortunate victory against FC Dallas last week. I will say that since Philadelphia hasn't been good on the road so far (2 games lost, one against TFC, the worst team in the league). They're also missing Danny Califf and have a rookie keeper that hasn't been solid between the pipes. I'm thinking the Red Bulls win by the score of 2-0, with Juan Pablo getting one of those.

Homebrew Tim has this prediction for us:
The Red Bulls regain their focus on the defensive end and they'll remember how to string together passes, like they did in pre-season, to move the ball forward. Ream will endear himself to the crowd, responding appropriately to any thuggish antics that Philly tries to pull. A bigger crowd on a beautiful day will make the Cathedral pure hell for the Union. 3-0, New York. Angel; the good Richards shows up (for a few minutes, at least) and puts one in; and give one to the new guy, Nielsen.
Last, but not least, You Suck Corrales has this prediction for us:
I do expect a physical game with a Philadelphia player sent off in the first half and Mike Petke getting in someone's face. Nielsen will terrorize Union on the left hand side opening up the middle for JPA and Salou Ibrahim or Ibrahim Salou or whatever you call him. Seitz will be good for another massive blunder that costs Philadelphia a goal in front of the supporters end. Sons of getting Bent Over will go home very sad. Final score NYRB 4 - Philadelphia Union 0. Goals JPA 2, Lindpere, Ream. Man of the match. Petke when he makes Tony Stahl urinate on himself when he gets right up in his face after Stahl's first reckless challenge.
So there you go. Many are predicting a stuffing of Philadelphia. I certainly hope so, as it will bode well for our upcoming US Open Cup game against them on Tuesday (also at Red Bull Arena). I just don't think it will be that easy but here's hoping I'm wrong.
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