Red Bulls gore Crew
Advance to East final in dominant fashion
The Red Bulls have been here before.
They’ve been the best team in MLS previously. They captured their third Supporters’ Shield in six years this season. Their 71 points set an MLS record for the highest tally in league history. The team’s core has some of the league’s best individual players.
And they’ve also been a letdown in the two-legged series many times before. Prior to Sunday, the Red Bulls were 0-8 in two-legged series in which they lost the first game. That curse is now broken. Down a goal on aggregate, the Red Bulls were able to erase their first leg, 1-0 loss to the Columbus Crew with an absolute clinical second leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Two goals in a span of three minutes late in the match calmed club naysayers, as did the convincing 3-0 win in front of 22,789 at Red Bull Arena on Sunday night.
The Red Bulls advanced on aggregate, 3-1, in their 19th playoff appearance with a complete performance. It sets up momentum for when they face Atlanta United — who marched past New York City FC — on Nov. 25 (5 p.m.) in Atlanta.
“What a thing of beauty if the guys can just go out there and play,” coach Chris Armas said about team’s late goals. “The guys got that second goal with backheels and all little stuff going on and you love it because they are playing free.”
With their foot on the gas from 3 0 the get-go, the Red Bulls were able to string two goals between the 73th and 76th minutes that represented the team at its core.
First, a string of passes before Alex Muyl and Tyler Adams found Daniel Royer, who scored the decider of the series. Then, three minutes later, Royer doubled his tally when he smashed one from 22 yards out to beat MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Zack Steffen.
Those two were set up after the Red Bulls were able to defuse tension early. In the 26th minute, Alex Muyl deflected a shot by defender Aaron Long for the early score.
“It was a weight off our shoulders. It was game on,” Long said, reflecting on the first goal.
At halftime, Columbus had tallied just one shot on target and finished with four. The Red Bulls’ early fast, high-press was just a teaser for things to come.
“I couldn’t pick out a bad play,” Bradley-Wright Phillips said. “Everyone played well and we learned from our mistakes last week. We looked dangerous on attack and our defense was the best it was all season. There’s not a bad word to say.”
As for naysayers, they can give it a rest for two weeks until the club can get over its winless hump (0-2) in conference finals.
“There’s a lot of belief in our locker room. We know this team is different than ever. Tonight was another example of that,” Armas said.