The New York Red Bulls welcome Columbus Crew in a bid to reach the MLS Semi finals of the Play Offs, however they need to overcome a 1-0 deficit from the first leg if they are to progress to the semi finals. At the time of posting Portland Timbers are the only team that have made it to that stage of the competition. Omens don’t look good for the Bulls who have won only 1 game out of the last 5 against the Crew.
However the Bulls are better at home, they have won 10 out of 11 games played at home, their only loss, tellingly, was against Columbus Crew, in that game Crew rushed to a 3-0 lead before the Bulls staged what was to become an unsuccessful comeback, eventually losing the game 3-2, they will hope not to give the Crew such a big start in this match.
What makes this game so interesting is that since that away win against the Bulls, Columbus Crew have not won away from home since, having Drawn 3 and Lost 4, so we are sure to be in for a fascinating struggle once again.
This game is an Eastern Conference semi final and Red Bull will be hoping to avoid a seventh exit at this stage of the competition in 9 seasons. It would be particularly galling for Red Bulls to lose out in this match, since they are Eastern Conference Champions and finished a clear 20 points above Crew in the table. Columbus Crew did manage to secure a knock out berth in which they defeated DC United in the previous round.
Columbus come into this game off the back of a win over DC United on penalties in the previous round, it was 1-1 at full time and in extra time they took the lead before Deleon equalised for United to take the tie into a penalty shootout. Wayne Rooney missed the opening penalty for United before further penalty misses by both sides left Deleon, who had earlier rescued United to end up being the villain by missing his spot kick and sending Columbus through.
Teams News
Red Bulls will be without Valot (torn ACL) and Duncan (torn ACL) as well as Bezecourt and Mines. Out for Columbus is Grella (Knee) and most likely Hansen (Ankle). New York will most likely rely on Bradley Wright-Phillips to produce the goals whilst Crew will have Zardes and Mullins up top.
Verdict
With these types of games with one side needing the win and therefore throwing caution to the wind at some point a positive result can often be the outcome. However I am going to go with a 2-0 win to the New York Red Bulls, I think their home form is great and they will not make the same mistake twice. Chris Armas is having a great first season as Head Coach and I am sure he will do everything he can to make that continue a little longer.