Red Bulls 3

Wizards 2

The Red Bulls came into last night’s game against Kansas City needing a victory to reach the MLS Cup playoffs. And Amado Guevara delivered one with a dominant performance worthy of a captain and former MVP, scoring a hat trick to lift them to a come-from-behind, 3-2 victory in front of 19,780 at Giants Stadium.

“Tonight we are where we wanted to be,” Guevara said. “Now we have to start from scratch a new part of this championship. In the end we did our job.”

The victory in the regular-season finale allowed the Red Bulls (9-11-12, 39 points) to leapfrog the Wizards by one point into fourth place in the Eastern Conference. They’ll host top-seeded D.C. United at 2 p.m. Saturday in the opening leg of a home-and-home first round playoff series.

“It was a good game, exciting, but the real thing is starting now. We have four games until the finals,” said Youri Djorkaeff, who is retiring after the season. “This is what we have to be focused on. I had confidence. I was sure we would win this game.”

Guevara was “great,” Djorkaeff added. “This was what we need; big players to play in big moments.”

Kansas City scored first, a Dave van den Bergh goal in the 23rd minute off a mad scramble in front of the goal. But the Red Bulls equalized eight minutes later, after the Wizards’ Ryan Raybould took down the Bulls’ Chris Henderson in the box.

Guevara hit the ensuing penalty kick into the upper left corner of the goal to tie it. He put the Bulls ahead with another in the second half. Speedy Marvell Wynne blew past Jose Burciaga in the right corner of the box, and Guevara buried his PK in the bottom left corner.

Guevara’s left-footed 25-yard blast in the 75th minute trickled through goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi’s hands into the right corner of the net for his third career hat trick.

Scott Sealy’s tally for Kansas City finished the scoring.

“I don’t think anyone’s planning a tickertape parade down Broadway for us,” coach Bruce Arena deadpanned. “We’re in the playoffs, but we don’t want to be satisfied.”