BRADENTON, Fla.- The Columbus Crew finished play in its preseason trip to Bradenton, Fla. with a 2-0 defeat to the New York Red Bulls on Friday morning at IMG Academy. Ian Christianson and Kenny Cooper each tallied in the final ten minutes to lead the Red Bulls to victory.
Federico Higuaín nearly gave the Black & Gold an early lead when he was taken down just outside the penalty area in the seventh minute. The Argentine's resulting free kick curled just wide of the post to keep the match scoreless early on. Later in the 15th minute, Red Bull midfielder Tim Cahill provided New York's best scoring chance of the firtst half with a cracking volley from inside the 18 yard box that smashed off the left post.
In the second half, it was forward Ryan Finley nearly playing hero for the Crew. The rookie slipped in past the Red Bulls' defense to face 'keeper Luis Robles one-on-one, but Finley's shot banged off the crossbar to leave the game scoreless after 51 minutes. The Black & Gold's first unit kept its third consecutive shutout this preseason before Robert Warzycha subbed all of his starters off by the 61st minute.
New York provided the first goal of the affair in the 80th minute when Nicki Paterson's free kick from the right flank found Ian Christianson in the box for a headed goal past Supplemental Draft pick Daniel Withrow. The Red Bulls struck again seven minutes later when veteran striker Kenny Cooper blasted a shot past Withrow from a tight angle left of goal and into the net.
The defeat moves the Crew to 2-0-1 this preseason. The Black & Gold will return to Columbus on Saturday before flying to Orlando on February 6 for the Disney Pro Soccer Classic.
SCORING SUMMARY
NY: Ian Christianson 1 (Nicki Paterson 1) 80’
NY: Kenny Cooper 1 (Santiago Castano 1) 87’
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY
NY: Tim Cahill (caution) 24’
CLB: Kevan George (caution) 32’
NY: Ruben Izquierdo (caution) 45’
LINEUPS
New York Red Bulls (First Half) : Luis Robles, Brandon Barklage, Markus Holgersson, Jamison Olave (Heath Pearce 34’), Roy Miller, Dax McCarty, Tim Cahill, Lloyd Sam, Ruben Izquierdo, Josue Martinez, Thierry Henry
New York Red Bulls (Second Half): Luis Robles (Santiago Castano 79’), Kosuke Kimura, Tyler Ruthven (Toni Stahl* 83’), Heath Pearce, Ryan Clark, Ian Christianson, Michael Bustamante, Ruben Izquierdo* (Nicki Paterson* 67’), Marius Obekop* (Ethan Decker* 76’), Amando Moreno, Kenny Cooper
Columbus Crew: Matt Lampson (Daniel Withrow* 61’), Josh Williams (Chad Barson 61’), Chad Marshall (Drew Beckle* 61’), Tyson Wahl (Eric Gehrig 61’), Agustín Viana (Kyle Hyland* 61’), Ethan Finlay (Ben Speas 46’), Kevan George (Shawn Sloan 61’), Tony Tchani (Konrad Warzycha* 46’), Eddie Gaven (Wil Trapp 61’), Federico Higuain (Blake Brettschneider* 61’), Ryan Finley (Justin Meram 61’)
Draft Pick *Trialist
