Saturday’s regular-season finale between the Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls in Harrison, N.J., also could serve as a playoff preview.
The Crew (18-6-9, 63 points) are locked into the second seed in the Eastern Conference and will face the seventh seed in the first round. That’s the Red Bulls (11-8-14, 47 points) as of now, but New York would move into sixth if it defeats Columbus and Charlotte FC lose or draw against D.C. United.
Round 1 consists of a best-of-three series, meaning the Crew and Red Bulls could face off as many as four matches in a row. Crew coach Wilfried Nancy declared that he “hates” that prospect and thinks it would be boring for fans to watch the same teams line up time after time.
The Crew romped past the New England Revolution 4-0 last Saturday to improve to 4-1-2 in their last seven league matches. Alex Matan netted a surprise hat trick — scoring more goals in one night than he had in his first 91 career matches for Columbus (two).
Matan credited Nancy for his improved play after the match.
“I think you guys could see, even last season, I was a changed player,” Matan told reporters. “When somebody trusts you, and especially when you’re (at) your lowest, it gives you a lot of confidence and you can do things that before you thought you can never do.”
The Red Bulls have stumbled down the stretch, going 1-4-3 since the Leagues Cup break, and most recently took a 2-1 defeat to Atlanta United on Oct. 5. All the same, New York will go to the playoffs for an MLS record 15th straight year.
Red Bulls coach Sandro Schwarz doesn’t believe that Columbus will take Saturday’s match lightly.
“It is a big, big, big mistake when we are thinking, ‘Oh, they are the second in our table and in the Eastern Conference, but they are coming here only to play with 70 or 80 percent,'” Schwarz said. “Never. This will never happen on Saturday.”
The clubs haven’t met since March, when Cucho Hernandez, Jacen Russell-Rowe and Aidan Morris scored for host Columbus in a 3-0 victory. Morris since has been transferred to Middlesbrough in England.
Hernandez is tied for second in MLS with 19 goals this season. Lewis Morgan paces the Red Bulls with 13.
Columbus won’t have midfielder Sean Zawadzki (rib) or defender Steven Moreira (ankle) for Saturday as the club continues to evaluate whether they will be available for the playoffs.
–Field Level Media
