In a rematch of last year's memorable Eastern Conference Championship, Columbus Crew SC again broke the New York Red Bulls' hearts, as they scored a stoppage-time equalizer to nab a 1-1 draw at MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday.
Despite the late goal, this year's Crew SC remain mired near the bottom of the East due to a stagnant offense that struggled to create chances in front of goal for the second straight match. The late goal from Ola Kamara, leaves him tied for the team lead with the recently departed Kei Kamara.
The Red Bulls, who have enjoyed a fine run of form in winning four of their last five – with four shutouts – will be disappointed to not walk away with all the spoils after spending much of the game on the front foot. For the second straight game, New York surrendered a late lead away from home and passed up a golden opportunity to pick up ground on conference-leading Philadelphia, who lost earlier in the evening.
Box Score
- 52' - NY - Bradley Wright-Phillips (Alex Muyl, Dax McCarty)
- 90+3 - CLB - Ola Kamara (Waylon Francis, Ethan Finlay)
- Full box score
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Three Things
- A NEW LEADING SCORER. Finally somebody on the struggling Crew SC squad has equaled the tally from the recently departed Kei Kamara. With his stoppage-time goal, Ola Kamara has netted his fifth of the year, the same amount that Kei reached before his ignominious exit.
- THEY COLLIN' ME. The Red Bulls were without defensive stalwart Aurelien Collin due to a late red card he picked up under controversial circumstances at the end of the midweek matchup at Real Salt Lake. For 90 minutes, Ronald Zubar and Gideon Baah were exceptional as a makeshift center back pairing, but in the end the effort fell just short as Crew SC salvaged a result.
- STRONG START, TOUGH FINISH This marks two games in a row that the Red Bulls coughed up late leads. And instead of catching the conference-leading Union, New York have to settle for one point on the two-game road trip, falling to third in the East behind local rivals NYCFC.
Next Up
- CLB: U.S. Open Cup – Tuesday at Chicago Fire (8:30 pm ET, YouTube)
- NY: U.S. Open Cup – Wednesday, June 29 at Philadelphia Union (7 pm ET, YouTube)
