We touched upon it briefly in our “What to Watch For vs. Columbus” piece, but here’s a closer look at how the Red Bulls fared against the Crew last season.
The Red Bulls wasted no time getting on the board in the Apr. 7 meeting between the two sides, as New York maintained a 2-0 lead 13 minutes into the match. Before the whistle would blow for halftime, the Red Bulls would extend that lead to 3-0 when Thierry Henry tucked one inside the far post off a nice feed from Roy Miller.
New York maintained that lead into the final minutes of the second half. Rookie goalkeeper Ryan Meara was just minutes away from earning his first-career clean sheet, before Crew defender Chad Marshall spoiled the party with a header in the 89th minute.
But the match wasn’t over yet.
Clearly irate over allowing a late goal, later admitting after a weekday training session that he was upset to see Meara miss a shutout opportunity, Henry settled down a cross and ripped a laser into the goal to give the Red Bulls the final tally in the club’s 4-1 road win.
Fast forward to Sep. 15 in the final meeting between New York and Columbus. The Crew jump out to an early lead after Milovan Mirosevic tallies one in the third minute. Before the dust could settle, New York answers back with a goal of its own when Henry shows off his patented touch and drives home the equalizer in the ninth minute.
The sides would enter the half knotted up at one apiece, but New York’s assumed a majority of the possession and appeared to be creating chances throughout. That effort paid off in the form of a Dax McCarty goal in the 79th minute to all but put it away for the Red Bulls.
And then, in stoppage time, this happened…
As evidenced by the highlights, there’s no question that New York certainly had Columbus’ number in 2012. They’ll look to kick things off on the right foot again this season when they take on the Crew Saturday at 4:00 PM in the first of three meetings this season. Watch all the action live on NBC Sports, or come out to the official Red Bulls Viewing Party at Catas in Newark. More info is available on our Pub Parnters page.
The Red Bulls return home on May 4 to take on the Montreal Impact for a 7:30 PM kick off. Get your tickets now at Red Bulls Ticket Central, or by calling 877.RB.SOCCER.
