New York Red Bulls vs. Columbus Crew | MLS Match Preview

NEW YORK RED BULLS vs COLUMBUS CREW
RED BULL ARENA, Harrison, N.J.
Oct. 18, 2014 (WEEK 32, MLS Game #312)
3 p.m. ET (UniM·s; MSG; TWCS-OH)

A massive match for playoff positioning is ahead on Sunday afternoon as the New York Red Bulls play host to the Columbus Crew at Red Bull Arena. The Red Bulls put their nine-game home undefeated streak on the line ñ extended last week in a 3-1 win against Toronto FC that secured a postseason berth ñ as they try to move into the top three in the Eastern Conference. The Crew need just one point to secure a place of their own in the MLS Cup Playoffs, following their dramatic 3-2 win at Philadelphia Union last weekend.

REFEREE: Jose Carlos Rivero. AR1 (bench): Craig Lowry; AR2 (opposite): Brian Dunn; 4th: Jorge Gonzalez
MLS Career: 36 games; FC/gm: 26.6; Y/gm: 3.8; R: 10; pens: 19

SUSPENDED: NY: Tim Cahill (through Oct. 19) ... CLB: Waylon Francis (caution accumulation; through Oct. 19)

WARNINGS:

• SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: NY: Armando, Tim Cahill ... CLB: Bernardo Anor
• FINED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NY: Thierry Henry, Luis Robles, Ibrahim Sekagya, Eric Alexander, Jamison Olave ... CLB: Eric Gehrig, Tyson Wahl, Tony Tchani

DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD

• ALL-TIME (59 meetings): Red Bulls 26 wins, 83 goals ... Crew 24 wins, 70 goals ... Ties 9
• AT NEW YORK (29 meetings): Red Bulls 15 wins, 44 goals ...Crew 9 wins, 30 goals ... Ties 5

2014 (MLS)

4/26: CLB 1, NY 1 (Arrieta 39 ñ Wright-Phillips 66)

7/12: NY 4, CLB 1 (Wright-Phillips 17; Henry 45; Sam 56; Alexander 91+ -- Bedell 39)

• The teams are meeting for the third time this season. Thierry Henry scored a goal and assisted on three others as the Red Bulls rolled to a 4-1 win July 12 at Red Bull Arena. On April 26 in Columbus, Jairo Arrieta converted a penalty to give the Crew a first-half lead, but Bradley Wright-Phillips scored in the second half to leave the teams in a 1-1 draw.
• The last Crew victory on the road at the Red Bulls came in 2010, a 3-1 victory in the first meeting ever at Red Bull Arena.
• Coaches record: Gregg Berhalter vs. NY: P2 W0 L1 T1... Mike Petke vs. CLB: P5 W2 L1 T2

LAST MEETING (MLS):

• Thierry Henry set up the Red Bulls first goal of the game in the 17th minute, receiving a defense-splitting through ball from Eric Alexander before hitting a square pass to Bradley Wright-Phillips for a simple finish.
• The Crew pulled back level in the 39th minute, poking an effort from a bouncing ball past New York goalkeeper Luis Robles from right at the top of the area.
• Henry then put the Red Bulls back in front himself just before halftime, stroking a rebound into the top corner of an unguarded net from the top of the area after Wright-Phillips saw two efforts denied at close range by Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark.
• Henry then returned to his role as provider, setting up Lloyd Sam for a close-range finish in the penalty area with a through ball in the 56th minute. His service then finished off the match in stoppage time, freeing Eric Alexander for a breakaway, after the Crew's Bernardo Anor was sent off in the 85th minute with a second yellow card.
• NEW YORK RED BULLS (4-4-2): Luis Robles - Chris Duvall, Jamison Olave, Matt Miazga, Ambroise Oyongo - Lloyd Sam, Tim Cahill, Eric Alexander, Bobby Convey (Dax McCarty 61) - Bradley Wright-Phillips (Ibrahim Sekagya 82), Thierry Henry (Andre Akpan 90).
• COLUMBUS CREW (4-4-1-1): Steve Clark - Chad Barson, Eric Gehrig, Michael Parkhurst (Tyson Wahl 59), Bernardo Anor (ejected 85) - Ethan Finlay (Aaron Schoenfeld 70), Tony Tchani, Wil Trapp, Ben Speas - Federico Higuain - Jairo Arrieta (Adam Bedell 25)

NEW YORK RED BULLS

The New York Red Bulls made it seven wins in a row on their home ground, defeating Toronto FC 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at Red Bull Arena to eventually claim a place in the MLS Cup Playoffs. The Red Bulls are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 47 points from 32 matches on the season.

LAST MATCH

• The Red Bulls opened the scoring in the 26th minute. Bradley Wright-Phillips tapped home a low Kosuke Kimura cross from the heart of the goal area for his 25th goal of the season, two away from the all-time single-season record.
• Ten minutes later, the Red Bulls had doubled their lead. Thierry Henry whipped in a ball that was not properly cleared, and Ruben Bover pounced on the loose ball and bundled it home near the 6-yard box.
• Wright-Phillips went from scorer to provider just before halftime. He attempted to fire a low shot from the edge of the box on the right that veered wide, but instead found Dax McCarty all alone at the back post and he deflected home for a commanding 3-0 lead.
• Toronto FC pulled a goal back in the 55th minute. Michael Bradley fed Luke Moore on the left, and he put in a cross for Jonathan Osorio to knock in with ease from close range.
• But TFC ended the game a man down as referee Hilario Grajeda sent off defender Nick Hagglund in the 86th minute after an aerial battle with Armando.
• Red Bulls boss Mike Petke made three changes to the team that defeated the Houston Dynamo 1-0 at Red Bull Arena. Jamison Olave and Kosuke Kimura came into the back four for Armando and Roy Miller, and Ruben Bover started in midfield for Peguy Luyindula.
• NEW YORK RED BULLS (4-2-3-1): Luis Robles - Richard Eckersley, Jamison Olave, Ibrahim Sekagya (Armando 44), Kosuke Kimura - Eric Alexander, Dax McCarty - Lloyd Sam, Thierry Henry, Ruben Bover (Marius Obekop 58) - Bradley Wright-Phillips (Ian Christianson 88).

TEAM NEWS

• The Red Bulls won for a second consecutive match, and have five victories over their last seven league matches. With the other results from the weekend, the Red Bulls also clinched a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs, the fifth consecutive year they have clinched a spot in the postseason.
• The win also extended New York's home undefeated streak to nine games ñthe sixth-longest in club history ñ as they conclude a three-game homestand with the Columbus match. Their road winless streak sits at seven games; the Red Bulls finish the regular season with a trip to Kansas City.
• "They've really come together over the last month or so, especially at home. I just think this is a team that needs to sense things, they need to smell things, for lack of a better term," said Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke. "What they've sensed and smelled over the last month is that season's coming to an end, we're not where we wanted to be, and our goal is to make the playoffs. I feel that big players step up in circumstances like that and so far over the last month we have and hopefully that will continue."
• Bradley Wright-Phillips scored his first goal in three matches, and now has 25 goals for the season ñ two away from the MLS all-time single-season record.
• "Obviously, as a goal scorer you want to break a record. If it does happen, I just want it to be over so I can talk about playoffs, or the next game," said Wright-Phillips. " ... It's a bit selfish for me to be worried about a goal record that's not going anywhere, you know what I mean? Obviously I would like to break it, but we've got a job to do as a team. Our work ethic all through the game showed what a team we can be. We're tough to beat when we work that hard."
• Ruben Bover made his first start since May 27, coming on the left of midfield with Peguy Luyindula suspended, and scored his first goal as a professional.
• "I'm very excited Ruben [Bover] got a goal. It's always nice to see; you know it's like seeing your kids score ... He stepped up and he did well. I think he had his moments that weren't very well, but that's expected," Petke said. "You know we try to give him exact instructions on what we wanted and pinpoint exact areas of the field that we wanted him in because if anyone has ever seen Ruben play, he likes to find the ball, wherever it is, and I think that he listened to that, for the most part."
• Kosuke Kimura started his first match since June 8, coming in at left back with both Roy Miller and Ambroise Oyongo away on international duty.
• "It's never easy for a guy ñ Kosuke didn't play for a very long time ñ but he showed his experience on the left," said captain Thierry Henry. "It's always awkward, especially if you're not comfortable with your left foot, to go out there and perform and he did it. Ruben, we've been waiting for him to give us something since he's been here and he did it. We asked them to step up tonight and they did it."
• Dax McCarty again reprised his deep-lying central midfield role, alongside Eric Alexander, and scored his third goal of the season, his first since Aug. 2.
• "We've enjoyed what Dax and Eric has done for us, have given us. ... If you look at it as a whole 90 minutes, they've done a very good job since we started playing them side by side and they're just plugging up a hole in the middle. If they can continue to play simple with the ball when they win it, selfless, that's the big thing," Petke said.

COLUMBUS CREW

The Columbus Crew returned to their winning ways in dramatic fashion, coming back from a two-goal deficit for a 3-2 win against Philadelphia Union on Saturday evening at PPL Park, clinching a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs. The Crew are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, with 46 points from 32 matches.

LAST MATCH

• Union took the lead in the 68th minute. Amobi Okugo headed a Fabinho cross down into the path of second-half substitute Danny Cruz, and he rifled a shot past Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark for the opener.
• Then just seven minutes the lead was doubled. Vincent Nogueira hit the post from an angled shot on the right, but Andrew Wenger followed up and was able to bundle it over the line from close range to make it 2-0 Union.
• The Crew stormed back with a record three goals in four minutes. In the 78th minute, Ethan Finlay pulled a goal back for the Crew, turning home a Hector Jimenez cross from the right flank.
• Just a minute later, the score was tied when Crew winger Justin Meram dribbed through the Union defense and firing a shot past goalkeeper Zac MacMath. Then the game-winner came in the 82nd minute, as Jairo Arrieta slid onto a Tony Tchani cross from the left flank and put it into the back of the net to complete the stunning comeback.
• Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter made three changes to the team that fell 2-1 to the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. Hector Jimenez and Bernardo Anor came into the back four for Eric Gehrig and the suspended Waylon Francis, and Ben Speas started in midfield for the suspended Federico Higuain.
• COLUMBUS CREW (4-2-3-1): Steve Clark - Hector Jimenez, Michael Parkhurst, Tyson Wahl, Bernardo Anor - Wil Trapp, Tony Tchani - Ethan Finlay, Ben Speas (Emanuel Pogatetz 83), Justin Meram (Chad Barson 87) - Aaron Schoenfeld (Jairo Arrieta 73).

TEAM NEWS

• Following the dramatic victory at Philadelphia, the Crew are on the verge of qualification for the MLS Cup Playoffs. A single point in their final two games, or the failure of Toronto FC to win both games, and the Crew will clinch the final remaining postseason berth in the Eastern Conference.
• "We're not there yet," Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter said. "We know there are two games yet and there's still a lot to play for. We're thrilled with the win, we're thrilled with three results at this time, but we know there's still work to do with two games left."
• The three goals in a four-minute span was the fastest three goals scored in club history, and tied for the fifth-fastest such burst in league history.
• "Obviously it wasn't according to plan," head coach Gregg Berhalter said. "But it was amazing. The resilience of the guys to come back and the desire to get something out of that game was amazing."
• Ethan Finlay scored for a third consecutive match and has 10 goals this season ñ after not scoring a single goal in his first two MLS seasons. He has four goals over the last five games; all 10 of Finlay's goals have come over the last 21 matches, since May 17.
• "I think we showed our resilience to be able to bounce back. Stick to our system and play the type of soccer we want to play. And we were rewarded for that," Finlay said. "In the second half, we talked about trying to take advantage on the counter and it didn't take two, three solid counters. It actually took a little bit more especially with them scoring in the second half. But credit to all the guys -- the guys that started and the ones that came in."
• Tony Tchani was credited with a pair of assists, his first career two-assist game. Tchani now has five assists this season; he had six total assists over his first three MLS campaigns.
• Jairo Arrieta came off the substitutes' bench for the final 17 minutes and scored a goal and added an assist. It was Arrieta's first goal since May 24; his last appearance in the first XI came on July 12.
• "It's fantastic. You call a guy's number time and time again. For him not to be called on for a while, and for him to score a goal is fantastic for him," said Berhalter.
• Emaneul Pogatetz made his MLS debut, coming on for Arrieta for the final seven minutes. "I thought it was good. It was important to get him. It's important to get him minutes and I think he won a lot of headers and helped shore up the defense," said Berhalter.
• With Federico Higua"n suspended, Ben Speas made his first start since Aug. 24, playing 83 minutes in the attacking midfield role.
• "I think we have some really well defined roles and Gregg has really set the foundation for how each position should be played," said defender Tyson Wahl. "[Ben] Speas came in and really did a great job filling in. Same way for Bernardo [Anor]. We all know the roles and our outside backs attack. And Bernardo did that well."