Frank Giase

You may not have heard of Zelalem until Arsenal's 4-0 FA Cup victory over Coventry on Friday.

Fans of U.S. soccer have prayed for a savior, maybe not on the Pele, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo level, but someone to rise through the youth ranks and develop into a world-class attacking player and turn the national team into a legitimate World Cup contender. It probably started with Ricky Davis in the ‘70s. Davis gained great experience as a starter with the Cosmos, although since a handful of Americans were required to start, somebody had to be in the lineup.

In this three-part series, Red Bulls correspondent Frank Giase will examine the three regular-season games against rival D.C. United. We’ll take a look at the mindset of the team leading up to each match, how the results impacted the standings, and how the success affected the team as a whole moving forward. D.C. United may have taken a while to recover emotionally from blowing a two-goal lead to the Red Bulls in their second meeting of the season, but they quickly regained their form.