The New York Red Bulls are in Columbus today to take on the Eastern Conference-leading Columbus Crew tonight at Crew Stadium (7pm, ESPN2).
The match is crucial for both teams as they jockey for position in the tough East. Columbus is currently three points ahead of New England at the top of the Eastern Conference, but will face the Revs in its next match after facing the Red Bulls. A loss or tie to the Red Bulls could help New England catch the Crew.
The Red Bulls are currently in fourth place in the East, two points ahead of D.C. United and three points behind the Chicago Fire. New York has lost just once in its past eight matches (4-1-3) after being strengthed by the addition of several new faces.
I will be providing live commentary throughout the match so feel free to make this your place to follow and discussion the action. If you will be watching the match, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions, and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the Match (Lineups after the jump):
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FINAL– That’s all from Columbus tonight. The Red bulls will lick their wounds and return home for their home game against Colorado on nine days. With Macoumba Kandji set to step in, the Red Bulls will be looking to forget tonight’s loss as soon as possible.
Thanks for following along and feel free to share your thoughts on tonight’s match in the comments section below. Good night.
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FINAL– Crew 3, Red Bulls 1. There is plenty that can be said about this game and the Red Bulls’ poor performance tonight, but what it boils down to is the Red Bulls just aren’t good enough to beat the Crew. Certainly not the way their attacking players (Rojas, Richards, Magee) are playing right now. The defense was exposed tonight, but some of that blame has to go to an offense that couldn’t keep the ball or put much pressure on the Crew defense.
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90th minute– Here’s what it boils down to with the Red Bulls attack. Without Van Den Bergh the team has nobody who can provide service from the wing, and if Rojas isn’t on his game, there really isn’t anyone who can generate chances from central midfield. Richards can take people on, but has been off in recent weeks.
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89th minute– Goldthwaite with a silly foul on Rogers that draws a straight red card.
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85th minute- GOAL CREW. And it’s Eddie Gaven with the finish off a beautiful sequence. Columbus has just been too sharp, too fast. Crew 3, Red Bulls 1.
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84th minute– Columbus looks very good tonight and the Crew’s showdown vs. New England next week will be a can’t miss encounter.
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81st minute– Chad Marshall has done very well against Angel tonight.
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78th minute– Good pass from Rojas to Wolyniec. Rojas has played much better in the middle since moving over from the left.
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77th minute– SAVE HESMER. Red Bulls with a chance but Wolyniec’s shot is saved.
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76th minute– Wow, what a messy series of events. Great ball from Rogers to Hejduk, Conway comes out and makes a save.
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75th minute– Chad Marshall has been a beast tonight. I also think the injury to Miglioranzi, which forced the Crew to insert Ekpo, turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to Columbus.
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74th minute– Hejduk shuts down Rojas with a bit of an obstruction but Rojas has no answer. Red Bulls had a decent look on that counter but Columbus closed it down.
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71st minute– Columbus is just a more athletic and dangerous team than the Red Bulls, even without Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
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69th minute– Richards with a yellow card for a foul on Rogers.
GAVEN with a shot just high over the bar.
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67th minute– Rojas shows some life with a great run and a good left-footed shot, but it goes a bit high.
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63rd minute– Ekpo strips Rojas and Moreno falls over Conway. Terrible turnover from Rojas, who has been terrible.
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61st minute– Borman comes in for Magee. You saw Magee move the ball around but not do much in the way of creating chances or making dangerous passes. Look for Rojas to shift in the middle.
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60th minute– If Carlos Mendes comes into this match, look for Magee or Rojas to come out and Stammler to push forward. He’s one of the few players showing life today.
Borman is warming up as well. We might see Rojas pulled.
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58th minute– Unless Rojas and/or Magee wake up some time soon, the Red Bulls attack will not wake up.
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57th minute– The Crew fans have been excellent tonight. Loud and inspiring group. It’s even more impressive considering the impact of Hurricane Ike in the Columbus area earlier this week.
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54th minute– Can Magee generate some offense? he has been relatively non-existent tonight.
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54th minute– Pietravallo comes out and John Wolyniec comes in.
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52nd minute– Cichero fouls Rogers after Rogers torches Boyens on a nice combination with Moreno. Parke and Boyens just too slow to keep up with the Crew attackers.
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50th minute– Another turnover by Rojas, passing to a teammate who is double-teamed. Poor decisions from Rojas tonight.
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48th minute– How will the Red Bulls respond here? Their offense needs to wake up and create some chances in the run of play.
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46th minute– It was only a matter of time before Rogers torched Jeff Parke on the left flank. Not a good match-up for Parke at all and now the Crew lead 2-1.
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46th minute- GOAL CREW!!!! And it’s Robbie Rogers with the finish!!!
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HALFTIME– Pretty even game, with the Crew creating some more chances and the Red Bulls moving the ball around better. Hejduk’s fluke cross/shot leaves it tied at halftime, which is probably a fair halftime score considering neither team has dominated.
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47th minute– Angel is definitely missing Dave Van Den Bergh tonight. No service at all for Angel tonight.
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46th minute– Red Bulls will have to feel disappointed to not go in at halftime with a lead.
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45th minute– Rojas has been disappointing today.
Gaven tries to draw a PK but that’s not even close to a PK.
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44th minute– Hejduk’s goal is his first MLS goal since 2005.
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41st minute– That was absolutely a bad cross that turned into a shot. Hejduk and the Crew will take it.
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40th minute- GOAL CREW!!!! And it’s Frankie Hejduk with a chip shot that floats over Jon Conway. WOW
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38th minute– Richards causing problems for Padula, as you might expect.
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37th minute– Red Bulls need to find Angel. The Crew struggling to find its forwards as well.
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35th minute– Red Bulls moving the ball around very well now.
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34th minute– Boyens turns the ball over and then compounds the error with a yellow card foul.
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31st minute– Parke needs to do a better job of closing space on Rogers on the left flank or Rogers is going to create a goal.
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29th minute– Gaven takes a tumble in the penalty area, leaving Crew fans screaming for a penalty. Not sure about that one.
Ekpo has been dangerous since coming in.
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28th minute– Conway with a diving save on a not-so-hard shot from distance by Ekpo. Crew with a corner.
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25th minute– SAVE Conway. Pat Noonan’s header denied by a great Conway save.
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23rd minute– Looks like Danny O’Rourke is being treated on the sidelines for a cut above his eye. The Crew playing short-handed right now.
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22nd minute– What a beautiful curling free kick from Angel and now the Crew are on the back-foot.
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21st minute- GOAL RED BULLS!!!! Angel with the free kick!!
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20th minute– Emmanuel Ekpo looks to be coming in for Miglioranzi. An early sub for the Crew.
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17th minute– Jeff Parke with some shaky moments early on here.
Boyens bloodied by Moreno on a challenge.
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15th minute– Wow, Gaven with a shot off the right post. Red Bulls lucky not to be trailing.
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13th minute– Apologies for the late start. We are scoreless.
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PRE-GAME– It’s 72 degrees and sunny in Columbus, It’s a shame there’s no Van Den Bergh and Schelotto today. Those two would certainly help make tonight’s match more fun to watch.
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PRE-GAME– No Schelotto or Evans for the Crew, which will rely on its wingers to create chances. Should be some good match-ups on the flank.
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PRE-GAME– No Macoumba Kandji for this match. His right ankle isn’t 100 percent so he won’t play tonight, but he might see some minutes in Friday’s reserve game.
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PRE-GAME– Here is the Red Bulls lineup:
———————–Angel————————
Rojas—————-Magee—————Richards
————Pietravallo—–Stammler—————
Goldthwaite—Cichero—Boyens————Parke
———————-Conway————————-
BENCH– Cepero, Mendes, Ubiparipovic, Borman, Wolyniec, Sassano Leitch
Here is the Crew’s lineup:
———–Moreno———-Noonan—————–
Rogers——Carroll——-Miglioranzi——Gaven
Padula——–Marshall—-O’Rourke——-Hejduk
———————Hesmer————————-
BENCH– Schoeni, Iro, Oughton, Garey, Ekpo, Hendrickson, Lenhart
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