It seems that maybe a war of words between Jermaine Jones and Felipe was behind the postgame scuffle between the Red Bulls and Revolution, following New England’s 2-1 victory on Saturday night.
According to Jones, the New York Red Bulls midfielder had been talking throughout the match and when the final whistle blew, he approached Felipe about some of what was said.
“I told him the whole game he talked and after the game he talked and I told him that if you lose, it’s better you don’t talk,” said Jones of the postgame fracas. “Then he said something in his language, but I played with some people from that country so I know some words. I told him, don’t do that, I love my kids, I love my wife and they have nothing to do on the pitch here.”
But Jones' approach apparently didn't go down well among the Red Bulls players.
“Postgame Jermaine Jones was being a little cheeky and wanted to be clever and talk a little bit of junk to Felipe and touch his face a little bit and I didn’t like that,” RBNY midfielder Sacha Kljestan told MSG. “But I love the reaction of our team, though. Everyone was over there defending Felipe and defending our colors. That's the sign of a really good team. I like our group and I'm not too worried."
Saturday was the first meeting between the two sides since a memorable Eastern Conference Championship series in 2014 and once again the Red Bulls fell to the Revolution, marking RBNY's first loss of the 2015 season.
As expected, the two rivals put forth a physical effort on both sides, with a total of seven yellow cards and 29 fouls whistled in the match. And the heated action didn’t end with the final whistle.
“I think it was a chippy game,” Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch told MSG after the match. “I think they were chippy and we didn’t want to back down. I didn’t like what they were doing at the end of the game; I thought it was wrong. I’m glad our guys stood up for each other and stood up for themselves. We’ll remember this. We’re going to tuck this one away and I think we’ll see them quite a bit down the road and we’ll be ready."
As for the Revolution, Jones feels like what happened on Saturday "is not a big deal," and his manager Jay Heaps agrees, stating "that stuff used to always happen."
So has the rivalry between these two MLS clubs reached a fevered pitch, much like another famous sports rivalry between the two regions?
“You can see it the same as in baseball with Red Sox-Yankees,” Jones said. “So maybe we have that with New York Red Bulls. I like that game.”
The next match in this series takes place on July 11 when the Red Bulls host the Revolution at Red Bull Arena.
