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TFC, RBNY set for massive clash at RBA

Oct 10, 2014 - 9:39 PM Harrison, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Red Bull New York and Toronto FC will meet on Saturday for a massive clash at Red Bull Arena that figures to have major implications on the Eastern Conference playoff chase.

Toronto enters the contest in sixth place in the table with 40 points, but the club was left reeling after suffering a 1-0 defeat to the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday.

"My message to the guys was, what we lost today was our margin of error for the rest of the season," TFC head coach Greg Vanney said after the loss.

Vanney's sentiments were echoed by Toronto's veterans as Michael Bradley clearly laid out the club's target for its three remaining games.

"Take nine points and I'm pretty sure we're going to be right there," the United States international said.

Bradley is correct; a perfect record the rest way would see Toronto sneak into the postseason. Toronto can drop points and still emerge from the regular season, but it would take other favorable results to help the Canadian club.

"Destiny is still in our own hands but it makes it a little bit harder the next three games," rookie defender Nick Hagglund said. "We have to win so we have to be precise and stay together and this is something we can learn from."

New York also controls its own destiny, though.

The Red Bulls bounced back from a humiliating defeat to the Los Angeles Galaxy to collect a hard-fought win over Houston and move four points clear of the playoff divide.

"Massive three points," RBNY head coach Mike Petke said after the win. "Again, similar to L.A. in one sense as we had hit the crossbar I think twice in the first half and we had two other clear opportunities that didn't go in but we showed tremendous character with the guys we put out there and to get this result is huge."

Thierry Henry produced the lone goal in the win over Houston, a good omen that the club has its talisman in good form as crunch time approaches.

"I've been in this league for a little while and you know, you have to take it game by game," henry said. "I've been here for four years and the guys that have been here with me for a little while know that always it's a must win game. Every team we play is a must win game because we had some difficulty to find some consistency this year and thankfully for us, we're on a good run now and we have to keep on going."