James NaltonNew York Red Bulls pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Major League Soccer playoff history, defeating Columbus Crew on penalties in game two of a best-of-three series to reach the Eastern Conference semifinals.
With the Red Bulls having secured the initial shock result in Columbus in game one, winning 1-0 thanks to a Felipe Carballo goal, many expected the series to go all the way to three games, but Sandro Schwarz’s team put in another top performance to win the series in two games.
Columbus Crew are widely considered one of the best teams in MLS. Their style of play under head coach Wilfried Nancy has seen them labelled one of the best teams in the history of the league.
The @NewYorkRedBulls are only the third MLS team since 2005 to eliminate a team in the postseason that recorded at least 19 more points than them during the regular season, joining 2021 New York City FC (defeated New England) and the 2005 LA Galaxy (defeated San Jose). pic.twitter.com/ZpTdd2tumM
— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) November 4, 2024
The Crew won the MLS Cup in 2023 and the Leagues Cup in 2024 proving that the style can be successful as well as entertaining.
It also took the Crew to a Concacaf Champions Cup final earlier in the year, but they lost to Pachuca after many players fell ill ahead of the final.
The next expectation of the Crew was to defend their MLS Cup. The big game was expected to be between themselves and Supporters’ Shield winner Inter Miami in the Eastern Conference final, but both stumbled in Round One.
The Crew stumbled and fell out of the playoffs entirely, while Inter Miami has been taken to a game-three decider by Atlanta United.
Few gave the Red Bulls a chance.
In an isolated, one-off game, the Red Bull style of play might be able to upset the rhythm of the Crew. Red Bulls could potentially be the team—if firing on all cylinders—that could cancel out the good things about the play of Nancy’s side.
But enough to win a best of three? It seemed unlikely.
Even after coming away from Columbus with a game on the board, the expectation was that the Crew win the next two.
When it comes to chances created, the stats across the two games showed Columbus created a load of chances but couldn’t convert. The Red Bulls’ style of play, constantly harrying and in the face of the opponent, makes it harder for players to take chances.
The Crew created ten “big chances” across the two games, as defined by the statisticians (Opta), and only converted two of them—the two goals they scored in the second game.
Columbus Crew created 7 big chances in that game vs NY Red Bulls and missed 5 of them. pic.twitter.com/eI2hWgZ6Hl
— James Nalton (@JDNalton) November 4, 2024
The Red Bulls were much more part of the game in the home fixture, having 36% possession compared to 22% in Columbus. The away game felt like a tactical battle that they emerged from following a tough fight, but at Red Bull Arena there was a sense of momentum and that Schwarz’s side had a plan to win with the ball.
It was epitomised by the opening goal. All season the Red Bulls have struggled to get their big-name players to combine. Either one has been off form or another has been unavailable through injury. Lewis Morgan has been the more consistent of the club’s star players and was named the supporters’ player of the year as a result.
On Sunday, a link-up between Morgan, Emil Forsberg, and Dante Vanzeir put New York Red Bulls theory into practice.
This is the kind of move the sporting and recruitment team at the club will have had in mind when assembling this roster, and it clicked at just the right time.
Columbus came back into the game, firstly via a goal from Max Arfsten. Nancy’s side is too good not to make some kind of comeback or put up some kind of fight.
Forsberg gave the Red Bulls the lead for the second time from the penalty spot, but the Crew snatched another equaliser in added time through Christian Ramirez.
There was always the cushion of a possible third game to fall back on, but it felt like the Red Bulls needed to get the job done at home if they were to get it done at all.
And they did. The ensuing penalty shootout was as up and down as the game itself, and the winning penalty was eventually scored by Daniel Edelman, a Warren, New Jersey native.
It was a big moment for Edelman’s career, and for the Red Bulls as a franchise. It was a big game for Schwarz, too, whose tactics had stood up to those of Nancy’s much-lauded Crew side.
Schwarz commented after the game that the pressing plan for these two games left defenders one against one at the back, praising the performance of his back line in those situations.
Schwarz also praised goalkeeping coach Jeremy Proud for helping Carlos Coronel produce some vital moments in this series, not least in the penalty shootout, before commenting that he believes his team have the quality to win these types of games.
“This was our message — don’t think too much about the last games in our regular season. Now it’s a new competition, and this was a clear message to believe that, because we have the quality,” said Schwarz.
“Maybe for some guys outside this is a big surprise, but for me, it’s not.
“We are able to win when we are tactically in a good spot, when we are mentally in a good spot, when we have this energy level, and when we have our supporters, and we showed this.”
The Red Bulls will now face the winner of FC Cincinnati and New York City FC, creating the possibility of the first-ever Hudson River derby in the MLS Playoffs.
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