New York Red Bulls

No Jesse Marsch, no problem. Even with the Red Bulls head coach serving a one-game suspension, New York hardly skipped a beat, cruising past the New England Revolution 4-1 thanks to three goals within the opening quarter-hour. Bradley Wright-Phillips opened the scoring after four minutes with a header from Lloyd Sam’s cross, and the English forward started the move that eventually led to Sam’s strike just four minutes later. It didn’t take long for Wright-Phillips to finish his brace, taking a slick feed from Dax McCarty and slotting past Bobby Shuttleworth to complete the early blitz. Anthony Wallace would go on to cap the rout with a second-half goal of his own, but the result was never in doubt.

With the win, the Red Bulls shot all the way to second in the Eastern Conference, sitting nine points behind D.C. United but with three games in hand. Now, New York will prepare for a first-ever trip to the Citrus Bowl to take on a returning Kaká and Orlando City. Kickoff for next Saturday’s contest is slated for 7:30pm ET.

New York City FC

Fans at Yankee Stadium were treated to a game-of-the-season contender as NYCFC and Toronto FC split eight goals between them and Sebastian Giovinco delivered yet another virtuoso performance for the visitors. The Italian’s showing wasn’t quite enough to help Toronto claim all three points, but it was the hosts who looked like coming away with a victory in the match’s early stages. David Villa opened the scoring with a fine free kick before Giovinco missed a penalty and the hosts doubled their lead through a Damien Perquis own goal. The visitors roared back, though, as the Italian converted a penalty and went on to complete a nine-minute hat trick to give Toronto the edge at the break.

In the second half, Villa converted yet another penalty, but Giovinco found Marky Delgado for what seemed to be an 82nd-minute game-winning goal. Still, there was one more twist, and it came from Patrick Mullins, who nodded home a poor clearance just a minute later to earn the hosts a share of the points—a wild affair, indeed.

Though the draw kept NYCFC next-from-bottom in the East, Jason Kreis’ men are only three points back of the conference’s third-placed team, Toronto. With an eye on a possible debut for Frank Lampard—and the bright spot of debut defender Angelino—the boys in blue will head to New England with hopes of replicating the Red Bulls’ recent rout. That match is set for next Saturday at 7:30pm ET.

Feature photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports