Crew look to ride home success versus Red Bulls (Sep 23, 2017)
Two teams at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum will vie for three crucial points as the Columbus Crew host the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
The Crew are riding a six-game unbeaten streak and have been strong at home of late, going 4-0-1 in their last five contests at Mapfre Stadium.
The Red Bulls are coming off a crushing U.S. Open Cup loss to Kansas City FC earlier in the week and enter a stadium where they've struggled to collect points in their last five visits, going 1-2-2.
The two sides sit two points apart in the MLS standings, with Columbus (13-12-5; fifth place) up on the Red Bulls (12-10-6; sixth place). New York holds two games in hand.
"Especially against the Red Bulls, it will be an almost six-point game," Crew midfielder Wil Trapp told the Columbus Dispatch. "To get three points this Saturday as well as push for three points the following Saturday could really cement the playoff spot but also could put us in a position to move up and maybe be hosting a game instead of travel."
Not only are the clubs battling with each other, they'll have to keep an eye on the seventh-place Montreal Impact, who sit three points back of New York and hold a game in hand on the Crew.
The U.S. Open Cup loss extended New York's winless streak to six games (0-2-4). And while the Red Bulls played to several draws, they haven't tasted MLS victory since Aug. 12 against Orlando.
"We're not going to let this deter us," coach Jesse Marsch said. "This is going to make us stronger."
Crew forward Ola Kamara's successful season continued in last week's draw against Vancouver in which the Norwegian netted his 16th goal of the season to match last year's output. He sits sixth among MLS goal scorers and is now the second player in Columbus franchise history to score at least 16 goals in back-to-back seasons. (Stern John, 1998, 1999).
"We know they have some good attackers and we need to neutralize them," Red Bulls midfielder Tyler Adams said. "We will take it step by step and use our tactics to get the best of them."
New York has been strong this season on the defensive side of the ball, allowing the third fewest goals against in the Eastern Conference and ranking sixth overall with an average of 1.29.
Key to that success have been goalkeeper Luis Robles and center back Aaron Long.
Robles notched his eighth shutout of the season in the Red Bulls' 0-0 draw against Philadelphia last week. Sixteen of his 47 career shutouts have been on the road.
Long, meanwhile, has played in all but one match for New York in all competitions. In MLS, he has been a staple on a backline that's produced 16 different combinations.
