The simplest way the New York Red Bulls can advance to the Eastern Conference Final is to win 2-0 on Sunday over Columbus Crew SC.
If the Red Bulls let up an away goal to Columbus, they would have to score three goals at home to move on.
The away goals rule: The away goals rule is a tiebreaking method that is used to determine the winner of a two-legged series, such as the MLS Conference Semifinals and Conference Championships. If two teams are tied on aggregate at the end of regulation time of the second leg, the away goals rule is applied as the first tiebreaker. The winner is the team with the most goals scored away from home.
A 1-0 scoreline for the home team would force extra time, with both portions of extra time to be played (no golden goal), and the away goals rule would no longer apply.
Dating back to the regular season, New York owns a five-match home shutout streak, which includes 487 minutes without allowing a goal at RBA.
