Building on the momentum from Saturday’s victory, Columbus Crew SC travels to Harrison, N.J. to face the fourth-place New York Red Bulls on Saturday, July 27 at Red Bull Arena.
Crew SC (6-14-3, 21 pts.) is coming off of a 2-1 victory against the Montreal Impact on Saturday, July 20. The victory extended the Canadian side's losing streak to four - its longest winless stretch since May of 2018 - while Columbus bettered its all-time regular-season home record against the Impact to 8-1-2.
In last Saturday's match, defender Josh Williamsopened the scoring in the sixth minute off a set-piece header in the box, with fellow Ohioan Wil Trappproviding the in-swinging ball. Following an equalizer from Montreal's Diallo Zakaria in the 45'+1, midfielder David Accam responded with the game-winning goal in the opening minute of the second half thanks to a well-timed ball from Pedro Santos that split the defense for Accam's far-post finish.
As for the Red Bulls (10-8-4, 34 pts.), they are coming off of a 1-0 victory at Orlando City SC on Sunday, July 21. The difference came in the 32nd minute off a finish from Brian White, who tallied his seventh goal and second game-winner of the season. Heading into Saturday's match, White and midfielder Daniel Royer lead New York’s goal production (7) while Royer's six assists mark a team-high.
New York is 4-0-1 in their last five regular-season home games, and have only dropped one home match since May. On the year, the Red Bulls are 7-3-1 in regular-season play at Red Bull Arena, having lost to Orlando City (March 23), Minnesota United (April 6), and Montreal (May 8).
This weekend's match comes nearly five months after the two teams' first 2019 meeting in the season opener on March 2 at MAPFRE Stadium, which ended in a 1-1 draw after defender Gaston Sauro headed home the equalizer in the 41st minute. Since that match, New York has been able to find 10 wins, but according to Head Coach Caleb Porter, their style of play is still very similar.
“They are a little bit more of the same team,” Porter said. “In New York, their philosophy is very clear of what they want to do in the game, (and) how they want to play. They are pretty good at executing it even though you know what is happening.”
Come Saturday, Crew SC must be aware of New York's press and use that to quickly play behind their attacking lines. Of the Red Bulls’ 37 goals on the season, 36 have been scored from inside of the box and 28 have been scored in the run of play.
“We know that they are a team that likes to press so we must be aware of that,” said goalkeeper Eloy Room. “We must play behind their pressure.”
Historically, the Red Bulls hold an all-time home record of 18-11-5 against the Crew. However, in the most recent regular-season meeting at Red Bull Arena on July 28, 2018, Crew SC came away with a 3-2 victory over last year's Supporters' Shield winners thanks to three first-half goals, including set-piece tallies from Williams and Jonathan Mensah.
Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET and supporters can watch the match on FOX Sports Ohio, stream on FOX Sports GO, or listen on 97.1 FM The Fan or www.ColumbusCrewSC.com (English & Spanish).
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