New York Red Bulls take home a 1-0 lead in the play-offs over Columbus Crew

Rarely has it been as quiet in the new Crew stadium as in the first half of Tuesday evening. This observation is of course relative, as the Nordecke never gives up and the other three sides of the building were often giggling, but there was little to get in the way of the normal roar. The energy was nervous.

It is entirely possible that the new stadium has never been as quiet as after the final whistle, including Nordecke. The building sounded like it was empty, save for a few isolated hyperventilators and a few referees.

The New York Red Bulls inflicted a 1-0 defeat for the Crew in Game 1 of a best-of-three first-round playoff series in front of an overwhelming crowd of 19,050. The Red Bulls now head home for Game 2 on Sunday at 4:30 PM, at Red Bull Arena in Harrison New Jersey, with a chance to sweep the defending MLS Cup champions.

Can what happened in Game 1 be called “stunning”? No, not in the grand scheme of things. The Crew, the No. 2 seed in the East and in the tournament, lost a game to the No. 7 seed in the East and now have to fight for their playoff lives. That’s how football is. Considering the quality of the Crew and considering the amount of magic they’ve conjured up over the last two years, no one would be shocked if they came back to win the series.

That said, the Crew were shut out in a money game at home. Nobody saw that coming. Over the past two regular seasons, the Crew is 22-4-8 in their spaceship, and that’s not counting the MLS Cup they won on their field in December and the 4-0-1 home run to the Leagues Cup title in August along. Their stadium is like the Bates Motel – visitors have a high chance of being killed – but with louder screaming.

Postgame message from crew coach Wilfried Nancy to his team: Stay calm.

“They are all competitors and that’s why I told them to stay calm,” Nancy said. “Because obviously we wanted to win, and if we don’t win we’re all disappointed. So I, I don’t think I’m going to sleep – I’m going to think about the game – it’s normal. It’s football. I maintain that we played a good match and that we now have to adjust certain things. We missed one goal and we will try to get better.”

The Red Bulls have a certain MO. They press hard with aggression and when they don’t have the ball they drop to a five-man backline, which is the essence of stinginess. The Salzberg style can be aggravating, especially if discipline is maintained.

The Red Bulls scored the only goal in the 25^e minute after a corner kick – a serve, two headers and a scissor finish from midfielder Felipe Carballo in a crowded penalty area. The Crew struggled to reach the final third of the field. One of their most powerful strikers, Diego Rossi, who has a back injury, was unavailable for the first time this season. Was that a problem?

Nancy made half-time adjustments and (for him) early substitutions – forward Jacen Russell-Rowe and midfielder AZ Jackson came on in the 59^e minute, fullback DeJuan Jones and midfielder Dylan Chambost in the 73^rd. Nancy’s idea was to add at least one extra body to the attack and create different combinations of overlapping and overlapping runs.

This they did. And the field tilted.

Crew fans will be fixated on a possible handball in the penalty area that should have been looked at in the 63^rd minute. Referee Tim Ford shook his head.

Nancy: “It was a handball, but the referee told me that the VAR apparently said it hit the body first and then the hand, so that’s why they didn’t call it.”

At this point the fans were engaged and aural normality was restored. Then the crew came.

Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel was probably the man of the match as he made eight saves, including some highlights. One of his stops — a left-handed redirection that seemed impossible given Jones’ close proximity and the power of his shot — should be on a poster. It came right after an Igor Shesterkin-esque kick save on a nice snap from Jackson.

“We created chances in the second half,” said Crew midfielder Sean Zawadzki. “The goalkeeper made some very good saves. If we keep getting opportunities like this, eventually something will happen.”

At the end of the match, the Crew had huge advantages in ball possession (73.3% to 26.8%), shots (16-11), shots on goal (8-3), corners (5-3) and total number crosses (23-2). But they struggled to crack the backline and find space in the penalty area.

“Yes, we lost,” Nancy said. “But we had a good performance against the Red Bulls. It’s not easy to play against them. We had many chances. We missed one goal. … Now we will adjust certain things to try to score one goal, or as many as we can.

Next up for the Crew is a potential elimination game, which they have become accustomed to this year. They were 3-1 in knockout matches in the CONCACAF Champions Cup (they lost in the final). They were 5-0 in Leagues Cup knockout matches (they were one with kicks). Next up is Harrison, New Jersey.

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