The New York Red Bulls finished off a three-match home stand in the manner they had hoped: a 2-1 win over Chicago Fire makes it nine points from three consecutive games at home for RBNY. It was important to make this stretch of matches at Red Bull Arena count, because points won at home tend to be the difference between success and failure in the MLS regular season, and because the Red Bulls had lost two on the road prior to returning to Harrison - and next they face another mini-run of road games.
Also, this was the game in which RBNY had to face the consequences of its biggest off-season decision (let’s say, absent evidence to the contrary, that Ali Curtis’ departure from the club was more his decision than RBNY’s): trading Dax McCarty to Chicago Fire.