It may be the first Hudson River Derby for New York City FC coach Ronny Deila, but he knows bragging rights are on the line Thursday when the Bronx Blues trek across the river to face the New York Red Bulls.
Deila has had an uneven start in charge of the reigning Eastern Conference champions. NYCFC (1-4-0) did not score its first goal of the season until its second match in the MLS Is Back tournament in Florida and fourth overall, but the Pigeons did record two wins at the event before making a quarterfinal exit at the hands of eventual tournament champion Portland.
With nearly three weeks since that 3-1 defeat to the Timbers, Deila sees his team is champing at the bit with the derby as their first match in the revamped Phase One schedule.
"The players know it. You can feel it also during the week that this is something special," the gaffer told NYCFC's official website. "It's very important we have calm heads, but aggressive legs. We have to match the energy and the fight."
Deila, though, may be lacking some key legs in attack. All-Star playmaker Maxi Moralez is a match-time decision, while fellow midfielder Gedion Zelalem and striker Ismael Tajouri-Shradi are already ruled out with injuries picked up while in Florida.
The time off may allow Heber to have a clean start. After recording a hat trick in NYCFC's season opener - a CONCACAF Champions League win over San Carlos - the Brazilian striker has gone eight matches without a goal in all competitions. He did, however, record two assists in four contests in Florida.
The Red Bulls (2-2-1) failed to progress out of group play at MLS Is Back, suffering 2-0 losses to both Columbus and FC Cincinnati after recording a 1-0 victory over Atlanta United. Like their rivals, a lack of goals has been troublesome - New York has scored one goal or none in its last four matches after defeating FC Cincinnati 3-2 in its lid-lifter in February.
Defender Aaron Long feels getting the first goal in this matchup will be critical, especially since the Red Bulls do not want to be chasing the match given NYCFC's offensive firepower.
"I don't want to concede the first goal," the Red Bulls center back said on a Zoom call. "I think we're very good when we get leads, and I think in Orlando, in the first half we gave up a goal against Columbus and Cincinnati, and I feel like you know if we can hold a zero for as long as we can, get the first goal, get the lead, make teams have to come to us, and then we can really press them and try to hit them on the counter, I think that'd be good for us.
"That's something that we've been focused on as a backline, it's just holding the zero, and getting the first goal."
New York has gone 266 minutes without a goal since Florian Valot's 4th-minute match-winner versus the Five Stripes in their MLS Is Back opener. The five goals the Red Bulls have scored thus far have come from five different players.
While the Red Bulls hold a 9-5-2 lead in the all-time series, NYCFC have picked up four wins and two draws in the last eight meetings. But making the trip to Harrison, N.J., has been troublesome for the Pigeons, who have come away empty in their last three visits to Red Bull Arena and are 1-7-1 there in all competitions since entering the league in 2015.