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New York, D.C. aiming to build on solid wins in Eastern clash

Apr 20, 2011 - 8:15 PM Washington D.C. (Sports Network) - Red Bull New York travels to take on D.C. United as the two Major League Soccer clubs renew their Eastern rivalry at RFK Stadium on Thursday night.

Both teams coming off 3-0 wins in their last league fixtures this past weekend, meaning they will be aiming to take that momentum into the big mid- week fixture.

New York (2-1-2) topped the San Jose Earthquakes 3-0 on Saturday thanks to two goals and an assist from Luke Rogers, who was named the league's player of the week this week.

"I think of course it's phenomenal to score two goals and set up the third," New York coach Hans Backe said of Rogers. "But this is the way he plays, and he's still not fit 100-percent, he's been away almost three months, if he's trained two or three weeks with us at maximum. So he will improve definitely. But I think that kind of player that kind of busy striker around center backs, it's so difficult to catch him because he's on the run all the time."

Thierry Henry also scored in the game to snap his scoring slump to start the season.

"You could see with Thierry [vs. San Jose], he was different class, his touch on the ball," Backe said. "Every striker needs sometimes to score, but he set up a lot of final passes, and he was very composed on the ball. He was strong on one-versus-ones as a target, so this was his best performance so far for Red Bull. If he can stay on this level, we definitely have a player who can make a difference in this league."

D.C. (2-2-1) earned a 3-0 win at Toronto FC on Saturday thanks to two goals from Chris Pontius sandwiched around Charlie Davies' league-leading fifth of the season.

"Overall, at this point, three points on the road and this is not an easy league, and to get three points on the road is a very positive thing," United coach Ben Olsen said. "The guys worked their tails off and I thought the mentality throughout the match was pretty sharp."

Both teams will be without players due to injury, with United missing midfielder Junior Carreiro, goalkeeper Steve Cronin, and defenders Devon McTavish and Jed Zayner, while New York will be without midfielder Austin Da Luz, forward Corey Hertzog, and defender Carlos Mendes.