Pedro Santos Winner Downs New York Red Bulls

Squad Rotation

Striker Bradley Wright-Phillips started on the bench for RBNY. He has been building his minutes since his return from injury. Kemar Lawrence also took a spot on the bench. The club also noted Alex Muyl is recovering from a groin injury. Leading team goalscorers Brian White and Daniel Royer led the attack, along with homegrown talent Derrick Etienne, Jr.

Back-to-Back Scoring

In the 12th minute, Crew attacker Luis Argudo went 1v1 with Red Bull Goalkeeper Luis Robles. Getting his body on the strike, Robles sent the ball safely out of bounds. Soon after, the Red Bulls began the attack that opened the scoring. Marc Rzatkowski crossed the ball in to Brian White, who headed the ball home (15′).

The Crew wasted no time in their response, with Argudo edging the ball behind Robles just one minute later. Gyasi Zardes, who features for the US Men’s National Team as well as Columbus, took on an assisting role. He often went head to head with USMNT teammate Aaron Long in the Red Bulls defense.

Missing Set Pieces

A prominent element to the Red Bull attack has been set pieces. But with only one corner kick in the first half and the first free kick in the 57th minute, the lack of set pieces diminished the attack. Columbus attacker Pedro Santos found the go-ahead goal just one minute into the second half.

But a video review granted a penalty kick in the 63rd minute. Royer, who was fouled upon in the moment under review, converted the kick to bring the score level again. Ivan, who came in for Etienne, tried to bring the Red Bulls ahead with the second free kick. But Santos collected a save from Robles and put Columbus ahead in the 84th minute. While New York fought to salvage a point, the final whistle ended the match.