With or without fans in the stands, the New York Red Bulls are enjoying some home cooking at Red Bull Arena this year.
Traditionally, the club has been tough to beat in Harrison, N.J., where they are 84-20-30 since the building opened in 2010.
This season, though, they've amped up the intensity at home.
They've won all three of their league matches, outscoring opponents 10-1. Including their run to the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals, the Red Bulls are unbeaten in six overall matches with a plus-14 goal differential.
So it's safe to say the Red Bulls are confident heading into Saturday afternoon's tilt with the visiting Chicago Fire.
"We know that we have to keep working to keep the undefeated record at home, because every game is different and hard and hopefully we keep it up until the end of the season," midfielder Alejandro Romero Gamarra said.
Gamarra, who is known by his nickname "Kaku," is coming off a brilliant performance in a 3-1 win over the Montreal Impact last Saturday, with the Red Bulls proving there will be no Champions League hangover in their first league match since their semifinal ouster to Chivas de Guadalajara four days earlier.
Starting for the fourth time this season, Kaku scored his first MLS goal, which proved to be the second-half winner.
"I think he's only getting better," Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch said after training Wednesday. "Its still just, I think, starting to grow into the group. Even today watching training, his reactions and understanding of what the requirements are within our team are growing every day. Today he was again fantastic."
While Kaku works on a budding partnership with Bradley Wright-Phillips, who scored his 90th career league goal last Saturday, the Red Bulls' defense has been stout throughout the first five games of the season.
Take away the aberration of a 4-3 loss at Orlando City SC and the Red Bulls (3-2-0) have conceded just twice -- both coming on set pieces -- Albert Rusnak's penalty kick in a 1-0 loss at Real Salt Lake and Jeisson Vargas' sensational free-kick equalizer for the Impact a week ago.
The Fire (1-3-1), meanwhile, come to Harrison floundering, having won just one of four home games and are coming off a 1-0 loss to the LA Galaxy a week ago.
Since conceding eight goals in their first three games, moving Bastian Schweinsteiger into a sweeper role has made Chicago a more difficult team to break down. The only goal conceded in the last two weeks came on a ball off the head of Zlatan Ibrahimovic when the Fire somehow lost the Swede for a second.
"I think we're doing an overall good job, the guys are in a great mood. Also, we are all conscious and aware of the situation we are in," Chicago coach Veljko Paunovic said. "We are actually all looking for a game like we have this Saturday against a great opponent in a great venue and in a great city also.
"We believe this is the opportunity we're looking to have a good performance, get a good game, get points and obvious return with a boost of confidence."
