NY Red Bulls 1-0 Columbus (October 29, 2024) Game Analysis

Felipe Carballo scored in the 25th minute, Carlos Coronel made eight saves and the visiting New York Red Bulls moved within a game of eliminating the defending MLS Cup champions with a stunning 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew in Game 1 in their Eastern Conference Round 1 series on Tuesday.

The No. 2 seed Crew not only had 19 more points in the regular season than the No. 7 Red Bulls, but their 66 points were second in MLS behind Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.

Game 2 of the best-of-three series is Sunday in Harrison, NJ. The third, if necessary, will be in Columbus on November 10.

Coronel made a great left-handed save on DeJuan Jones in the 83rd minute as the Crew pushed for the equalizer.

New York had lost all four previous playoff games in Columbus, but improved to 3-5-1 all-time in postseason games vs. Crew.

Carballo scored from a set piece situation when Crews was caught ball watching and he hit from the center of the box on a flick from Dylan Nealis.

It was a deserved lead as the Red Bulls’ high pressure stymied the usually dynamic Crew attack, which has scored more goals in the past two seasons than any club in MLS.

Columbus’ second-leading contributor Diego Rossi (12 goals, 11 assists) was unavailable because of a back problem.

Coronel came up big with saves on Christian Ramirez and Cucho Hernandez early in the second half.

The Crew had 73 percent of possession in the game, but were either thwarted by Coronel or poor at finishing.

Columbus defeated the Red Bulls twice in the regular season. Most recently, they edged host New York 3-2 on a 97th-minute goal by Malte Amundsen in the regular-season finale on October 19.

Amundsen was unavailable on Tuesday due to an injury.

The crew was extended for three matches by Atlanta United in 2023 Round 1, although in that case they won the first match.

They are looking to join the Los Angeles Galaxy (2011-12), Houston Dynamo (2006-07) and DC United (1996-97) as repeat champions.