Is this, finally, the crackling metropolitan rivalry that Commissioner Don Garber envisioned for his league — a derby (pronounced “darby,” English-style)?

Knowledgeable fans, singing and chanting (with any luck, without any European tinge of menace), will surge into the industrial flatlands of New Jersey on May 10 for the first derby between the expansion team New York City F.C., still without a nickname, and the Red Bulls, a team on its second nickname but still looking for its first championship.

In its 20th season — three more than the old North American Soccer League attained, let it be noted — M.L.S. is trying to reach the highest levels of world soccer. This is the blessing, this is the curse, of soccer in North America, unlike many other sports, in which most great players in the world make their way to the United States and Canada.