From top to bottom, Columbus Crew SC had a complete performance Sunday night. In the First Leg of the Eastern Conference Championship, the Black & Gold put away two goals and kept New York off the board, handing the Red Bulls their first shutout since May.
In front of the first playoff sellout crowd in club history, the Black & Gold dealt with New York's signature high press and excelled in the midfield battle with the Red Bulls. Crew SC managed the high speed of play well and put the visitors on their heels with the fastest goal in MLS Cup Playoffs history nine seconds into the match.
“We’re certainly pleased with the result,” Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter said. “I’m thrilled with the effort of the guys and at times I think we played really good soccer. It just becomes challenging when the speed is that high, the intensity is that high, the spaces are so small; and then you have the fact that they’re chasing the game, which adds to it. But, I think we managed the game really well.”
Two of the best midfields in Major League Soccer went head-to-head on Sunday and, even though Crew SC was outpossessed by the Red Bulls, Columbus managed to shut down New York's midfield trio of Sacha Kljestan, Dax McCarty and Felipe.
“Those three guys in the middle are very dangerous,” Crew SC Vice Captain Wil Trapp said. “Their movement’s smart, they run all day long, but our game plan worked out perfectly, I thought. We get the ball, we break their lines and at times, they’re so focused on pressuring the ball that you can bypass four or five of them with one pass. I thought we did a very good job of that.”
While the midfield battle was mainly about winning second balls and battling in tight spaces, Crew SC's distribution of the ball was just as important. In addition to taking care of New York’s top goal-scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips, Crew SC’s back line successfully contributed to the build up.
“To break their press, we talked about when we win the ball, the first pass has to be forward, it has to break lines,” Captain and defender Michael Parkhurst said. “It’s difficult to do. You’re under a lot of pressure, but I thought for the most part, we were successfully able to do that. I thought Wil was fantastic with that, winning balls and playing them forward. We’ve talked about that all week and guys executed.”
At the end of the day, Columbus decisively handled the Red Bulls’ high press and was still able to execute its style of play. With Crew SC’s 2-0 win heading into the Second Leg, New York has to shut out the Black & Gold by at least a two-goal margin to advance. And if Columbus puts a goal away at Red Bull Arena, the home team must score four goals to advance to the MLS Cup.
“The pressure’s on them,” Trapp said. “They’re going to be trying a couple new things to remedy what we did to them Sunday and they’re going to come out flying, so we have to match that intensity and just battle. These games, sure there’s going to be some nice soccer at times, but most of it’s just a battle.”
