Columbus midfielder Alexandru Matan (20) gears up to take a corner kick in the Crew’s 1-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls Tuesday at Lower.com Field. Credit: Liam Ahern | Lantern Photographer
The Red Bulls came into Columbus and held the defending MLS Cup champion Crew scoreless.
The No. 7-seeded New York Red Bulls defeated the No. 2-seed Columbus Crew 1-0 in Game 1 of the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs at Lower.com Field Tuesday night.
Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel shined for New York, making eight saves against the second-highest regular season scoring team.
Columbus head coach Wilfried Nancy thought his team should’ve had a more productive night offensively, but was complimentary of Coronel’s performance.
“I think one goal minimum could have been better,” Nancy said. “Their goalkeeper did a really good job.”
The intensity of playoff soccer was felt in the early stages of play, with neither team separating themselves.
In the 25th minute, a corner-kick attempt helped New York get on the board.
Red Bulls midfielder Felipe Carballo scored from the center of the box with the deflected corner ball, scoring the only goal of the game. Defender Dylan Nealis assisted on the score.
Six minutes later, Crew defender Yevhen Cheberko found himself with an opportunity to tie the game but missed a shot wide left of the net.
The remainder of the first half was a stalemate.
Through 45 minutes of play, Columbus accumulated 76% of ball possession, but the Crew were still tied with New York in total shots at five and only one on goal apiece.
It was much of the same in the second half, with the Crew dominating possession.
Coronel saved back-to-back shot attempts from Crew attackers Cucho Hernandez in the 51st minute and Christian Ramírez in the 53rd minute.
Shortly after, the Red Bulls produced two shot attempts in a two-minute span, but were denied both times by Crew goalie Patrick Schulte.
With fewer than 15 minutes remaining, Coronel took in the net, making clutch save after clutch save.
In a span of five minutes, Coronel stopped three shots from the Crew, including a last-second, one-handed deflection.
Nine minutes of extra time was added, but the Crew couldn’t crack the Red Bulls’ defense.
The Crew finished the game with 73% ball possession and five more total and five more on target shots compared to the Red Bulls.
Crew defender Sean Zawadzki is certain they will be able to find the back of the net in Game 2.
“You saw the success we had in scoring goals this year,” Zawadzki said. “I still have the confidence in this group to find goals because they’re there. We showed all season that we’re capable of it.”
The New York Red Bulls will host the Crew for the second game of the best-of-three series Sunday at 4:30 p.m. from Red Bull Arena.
