The Supporters Shield-winning LA Galaxy will try to move a step closer to the MLS Cup Final with a win (or draw) at Home Depot Center against the New York Red Bulls tonight (11pm, ESPN2) in their Western Conference semifinal second leg.

The Red Bulls have other plans, trying to continue a surprising run from last team in the playoffs to MLS Cup Final.

Quick Recap

Approximately as many people showed up to watch a playoff game at Pizza Hut Park as attended a reserve match at Jeld Wen Field earlier this season. FC Dallas appeared to draw inspiration from the sparse crowd as they put forth a half-empty effort against the lowest seed New York Red Bulls.

FC Dallas 0, New York Red Bulls 2
The New York Red Bulls and Dallas FC squared off in Pizza Hut Park for the first Wild Card game of the post season in front of 10,017 fans. FC Dallas came out strong against NY and bossed much of the first half and NY was left with working the counter-attack.

The New York Red Bulls scored twice on the road in Frisco to advance and face the Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS playoffs. New york went up a goal in the 61st minute when Joel Lindpere scored, but looked to be in trouble when Solli Jan Gunnar was called for a red card foul in the 79th. Instead, it was New york getting the last gasp goal, with Thierry Henry scoring eight minutes into.

The New York Red Bulls may have eked into the playoffs, but they're in a position to shake up the postseason picture in a big way after their latest performance.

Joel Lindpere finished a cross from substitute Mehdi Ballouchy in the 61st minute, and Thierry Henry scored an insurance goal in the final seconds of stoppage time to lift the Red Bulls to a 2-0 victory over FC Dallas in a single-elimination wild card match Wednesday night.

Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Union

In a match that was billed as a great Eastern Conference showdown with both teams having plenty to play for, the New York Red Bulls dominated the Union with a 1-0 scoreline that could have been far more lopsided in favor of the hosts. A choppy game throughout, made worse by the poor nature of the playing surface, the Red Bulls bossed the game from the opening whistle, and captured a spot in the 2011 playoffs with a well deserved victory on a chilly Thursday night at Red Bull Arena.

After New York woke up and surprised the league with a 2-0 victory over the Galaxy, the Sounders also fell, which made the two best teams in MLS a bit less...impressive. Still, the league remains as tight as ever. Pedro Gomes recaps the past week's action.
New York Red Bulls 2, Los Angeles Galaxy 0
The Red Bulls hosted the Los Angeles Galaxy in yet another must-win game for NY in front of 25,186 fans at Red Bull Arena in mid-week action.

The Red Bulls began play on Tuesday night with only the slimmest margin for error in their chase for an MLS playoff spot. A loss against a depleted Los Angeles Galaxy team would have shoveled the first spadeful of dirt on RBNY's 2011 season. A draw, while keeping New York mathematically alive in the race, would have made things very tricky coming down the stretch, with games against Sporting Kansas City and Philadelphia Union still to come.

The New York Red Bulls defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 to claim their third win in five matches and take a massive step towards the MLS playoffs.

League-leading Galaxy traveled to the Red Bulls Arena without the services of playmaker Landon Donovan for tonight's crucial match and their lack of creativity without the U.

By MIKE NASTRI

Harrison, NJ-- The New York Red Bulls finally put together a dominating win that is expected of the star-laden franchise, pushing them from the brink of missing the playoffs to looking like a team capable of making noise in the post-season.

RSL Celebrates, RBNY Engages in Finger-Pointing (Photo by Dan Dickinson)"Get behind the boys tonight and drive them onto victory. COYRB!" That's how I concluded my match preview yesterday. How naive! Hours later, I would find myself alongside thousands of other fans booing the Red Bulls off the pitch at halftime as they went to the locker room trailing 3-0 early to Real Salt Lake, victims of their own ineptitude.

If you are over the age of 4o there is a good chance that you had to surrender control of your television to the resident drama queen of your household between 1981 and 1989 when Dynasty came on. If you are between the age of 40 and 25 this was the show that made your mom go snob and start wearing pearls while rocking one of these haircuts.

Two teams that started the season as title contenders met at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night sorely needing victories, but only Real Salt Lake came away with the result they were looking for.

The New York Red Bulls continued their struggling ways, dropping a 3-0 result to a motivated RSL side.

On Wednesday, the MLS All-Stars will play Manchester United looking for revenge after the humiliating defeat they suffered last year. The team of 32 was picked by the fans, players, Hans Backe and Don Garber. Only 22 will be available to play and Keeping a Clean Sheet feels that the most deserving squad will not be on display.

In a week when goals were even tougher to come by than most weeks in MLS, the Seattle Sounders and Philadelphia Union had no trouble finding the nets.

The two clubs combined for seven goals in their most recent victories, and their impressive performances led to a combined six selections on this week's SBI MLS Best XI.

When the summer transfer window opened for Major League Soccer the Red Bulls were very determined to get a brand new keeper to help this club stop the leak and help the offense put some goals into the oppositions net. Getting his ITC & P1 Visa was former Hamburg keeper Frank Rost and right away was thrown into the fire for the Red Bulls two match road trip to face Chivas-USA.

It was the road trip from hell for the New York Red Bulls. Three draws and a loss as they continued to score goals but they couldn't find a way to keep a point or the full three points. But with Toronto FC coming to town earloer this week, this would be the game where the Red Bulls had to right the ship and stop earning draws.

Joel Lindpere is in form. With the 5-0 win over Toronto FC, the New York Red Bulls reaffirmed the belief that they have the potential to be an MLS Superclub. In recent weeks, MLS fans have seen New York drop points in draws that they should have won.
The Red Bulls have encountered many speed bumps this season, the most recent of which were the losses of personnel to the Gold Cup.

RBNY (and Agudelo) Fans Have a Reason to Celebrate (Photo by Dan Dickinson)Toronto FC (and its dwindling number of traveling fans) must absolutely dread coming to New York to play the Red Bulls. Who can forget the 5-0 thrashing in the rain that brought down the curtain on Giants Stadium, when Macoumba Kandji and Juan Pablo Angel ran riot, splashing through puddles on their way to destroying the Reds' playoff hopes?

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIPhotos.com

By MIKE NASTRI

After a miserable May and June that included just one win, the New York Red Bulls showed what they can do with a nearly full-strength side.

The Red Bulls overcame a promising start from Toronto FC before finding a good attacking rhythm and dismantling the visitors from Canada in a 5-0 dismantling on Wednesday night.

This one was always going to be difficult. With the Red Bulls missing both starting forwards (Henry and Rodgers), their main striking option off the bench (Agudelo) and the central defensive tandem of Marquez and Ream, getting the full three points in Seattle was a tall order. Factor in an MLS record crowd of 46,505 and relatively short rest after Sunday's wild 3-3 slug fest in Portland and even a draw may have been a lot to ask.

Another match in the northwest of the country and another crazy night for the Red Bulls as they traveled to face the Seattle Sounders, who were looking very pleased to get Dane Richards back from Gold Cup duty. But the terrible decisions in the net went to Greg Sutton as he had a major meltdown.

By CALEB SONNELAND

Greg Sutton had a night to forget at CenturyLink Field — to put it lightly.

The New York goalkeeper not only allowed four goals on the night but gaffed in a bad way in the 78th to condemn his side to a 4-2 defeat in front of 46,065 fans in Seattle.

Jenn and I are proud to announce the latest addition to our soccer family.

Our new baby boy, Keegan, was born today, weighing in at 8lbs4oz and 21 inches long.

So, who did we name him after? His brother, Gunnar, was also named after someone famous...any guesses?

So there you have it, a Gunnar and a Keegan.

Photo credit: courtesy of Chamber Images
Good Afternoon! Our team is back in action, @The Cathedral of Football, against Eastern Conference rival New England Revolution. This is a massive, massive fixture for the Red Bulls, who will be off on a 4 game road trip after this one.

Don't say we weren't warned! Coming into the Red Bulls' home game against Chivas USA there was plenty of talk about this possibly being a trap game, about the Red Bulls' lack of proper preparation as a result of the meaningless exhibition match in Montreal, about Chivas' recent form under Robin Fraser.

During training on Saturday, May 14th New York Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe knew that he was going to face a tough and scrappy Chivas-USA side. What we saw on Sunday night was a coming out party for Justin Braun as he along with Chivas-USA flew across the country and found a way to gain three points on the road and the first west coast side to win in the eastern end.

Canadian international forward Ali Gerba's first-half goal was the difference, as the Montreal Impact held on for a 1-0 result over the New York Red Bulls in their friendly Wednesday night at Saputo Stadium.

Gerba headed home a cross in the 37th minute for the game's only tally.

Landon Donovan sat out the Los Angeles Galaxy past few matches nursing a sore knee, but he showed no signs of the knee being a problem last week, scoring two goals and adding an assist in the Galaxy''s 3-0 win against the Portland Timbers. His performance was good enough to earn him SBI's MLS Player of the Week honors.

SBI MLS Spotlight: Jan Gunnar Solli from Soccer By Ives on Vimeo.

Be honest, how many of you were expecting a JPA jump-slash?

Seriously, is there anything better than going into D.C. and stomping them out? I think not. If last week's performance against the Quakes was impressive, than we need to find a new word to describe the show that New York put on in RFK.

Juan Agudelo's stunning second-half goal was the cherry on top of the delicious sundae that was the Red Bulls resounding 4-0 victory over hated rivals DC united last night in the nation's capital. It's a goal that will be talked about for a long time, and could very well be in the running for MLS Goal of the Year honors when all is said and done.

It's been nine months on the making, but MLS fans are finally starting to see a healthy and fit Thierry Henry and that is bad news for the rest of Major League Soccer.

Henry was hampered by injuries last season and managed two goals in his first year in MLS. That is a total he matched against D.

By THOMAS FLOYD

WASHINGTON - After a modest start to the season, the star-studded New York Red Bulls are officially living up to the hype.

Striker Thierry Henry notched two goals and an assist, Joel Lindpere and Juan Agudelo added goals of their own, and New York put together its second straight emphatic win with a 4-0 triumph at Atlantic Cup rival D.

While there were plenty of individual performances to write home about during the opening week of the Major League Soccer season, a number of teams stepped up to deliver impressive results.

Whether it was the defending champion looking very much like one, an expansion team putting together a surprising offensive display, an early favorite getting contributions from its newcomers or two of last year's league doormats coming up big, MLS' opening week was full of strong team efforts.

There was a bit of an uneasy feeling that the Red Bulls would fail to get another quality scoring chance after Thierry Henry squandered a PK chance to put New York up front early on, but rookie sensation Juan Agudelo would have none of it.

After a seemingly endless offseason, the 2011 season got underway with a 1-0 win in favor of the home team, but not without all the drama that usually surrounds a Red Bulls fixture.

We're fully expecting the Sounders to go with the same starting lineup that they did against the LA Galaxy. Steve Zakuani was the big question mark in that one, and he seems to be OK enough to play. If he can't go, maybe the recently signed Mauro Rosales gets his first start of his MLS career. We can safely assume O'Brian White will get another start, as there is not clear alternative at this point.

Dane's been the man of the moment this preseason.

The hectic preseason continued for New York as they wrapped up their final trip in Arizona this week. The only thing is, did this long preseason leave us with more questions than answers?

Last time we spoke, the Red Bulls just finished up winning against Ft.

With the Red Bulls down in Mexico for the beginning of their preseason schedule, New York pulled out a win in PK's over Mexican side Atlante, 4-3, after each side failed to score in the regulation 90.

Last year, the Red Bulls had an almost perfect preseason, finishing at 7-0-3. With the new look Bulls on the pitch for the first time in 2011, their undefeated streak continued.

The Red Bulls saw their first pre-season action tonight as they faced three-time Mexican champion, Atlante, in a friendly match. While still early, and meaningless, the match does give us fans a first glimpse at Coach Backe's thinking regarding the first XI, as well as some actual soccer to soothe our collective football jones.