New York Red Bulls vs. Columbus Crew | MLS Match Preview

NEW YORK RED BULLS vs COLUMBUS CREW

RED BULL ARENA, Harrison, N.J.

May 26, 2013 (WEEK 13, MLS Game #120)
5 p.m. ET (UniMás; MSG; FS-OH)

The New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew meet for a second time this season when the Eastern Conference clubs face off at Red Bull Arena on Sunday afternoon. Just three weeks ago, the Red Bulls went to Columbus and escaped with a 1-0 victory. The Red Bulls come into the match off a dramatic 1-0 home win against the LA Galaxy, their undefeated streak now at six games. The Crew put an end to a two-game losing slide by starting their road swing with a 1-0 victory at Toronto FC.

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REFEREE: Geoff Gamble. AR1 (bench): Joe Fletcher; AR2 (opposite): Eric Proctor; 4th: Jorge Gonzalez
MLS Career: 20 games; FC/gm: 23.5; Y/gm: 3.2; R: 3; pens: 9

DISABLED LIST: none
SUSPENDED: CLB: Jairo Arrieta (through May 26); Glauber (caution accumulation; through May 26)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CLB: Federico Higuain
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NY: Tim Cahill, Juninho
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: CLB: Wil Trapp (U.S. U-20)

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (55 meetings): Red Bulls 25 wins, 76 goals … Crew 23 wins, 64 goals … Ties 7
AT NEW YORK (27 meetings): Red Bulls 14 wins, 38 goals … Crew 9 wins, 27 goals … Ties 4
FUTURE MATCH: 8/10: Columbus Crew vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m. ET

• The teams are meeting for the second time this season. Tim Cahill’s goal in the 80th minute gave the Red Bulls a 1-0 victory May 4 at Crew Stadium.
• Columbus has not defeated New York since the 2010 season. The Red Bulls are 3-0-2 in the last five meetings in the series.
• The Red Bulls victory a year ago in Columbus was their first there since a 2-0 win July 19, 2006. The Crew were 5-0-2 at home vs. New York in between.
• Coaches record: Robert Warzycha vs. NY: P11 W4 L5 T2 … Mike Petke vs. CLB: P1 W1 L0 T0

LAST MEETING (MLS)
5/4: CLB 0, NY 1 (Cahill 80)

• The Crew had a tremendous opportunity to open the scoring in the 72nd minute. Eddie Gaven was tackled at the top of the box by New York defender Brandon Barklage, and referee Armando Villarreal pointed to the spot. But Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles made a diving stop to his right from Federico Higuaín's penalty attempt.
• Then in the 80th minute, the visitors found winner. Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum made a save on a strike from the left side by Jonny Steele, but Tim Cahill was perfectly positioned to loop a header from the rebound over Gruenebaum and into the goal.
• COLUMBUS CREW (4-2-3-1): Andy Gruenebaum - Josh Williams, Chad Marshall, Glauber, Tyson Wahl (Ryan Finley 87) - Tony Tchani, Danny O'Rourke (Ben Speas 86) - Dominic Oduro (Konrad Warzycha 90), Federico Higuain, Eddie Gaven - Jairo Arrieta.
• NEW YORK RED BULLS (4-4-1-1): Luis Robles - Brandon Barklage, Jamison Olave, Markus Holgersson, Roy Miller (Heath Pearce 66) - Eric Alexander (Lloyd Sam 46), Juninho (Peguy Luyindula 78), Tim Cahill, Jonny Steele - Thierry Henry - Fabian Espindola.

NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls stretched their undefeated streak to six games in dramatic fashion, getting the game’s lone goal in stoppage time for a victory against the LA Galaxy on Sunday afternoon at Red Bull Arena. The Red Bulls are in first place in the Eastern Conference with 24 points from 14 matches.

LAST MATCH

• The game's lone goal came after the 90-minute mark had come and gone. Juninho flighted in a free kick from out on the left of goal and Tim Cahill nodded it home from inside the six-yard box with goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini rooted to his line for the match-winner.
• Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles made two saves in keeping the clean sheet.
• Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke made three changes to the team that reached a 1-1 draw with the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. Jamison Olave came into the back four for Heath Pearce, Juninho started in the midfield in place of Lloyd Sam, and Thierry Henry started up top in place of Andre Akpan.
• NEW YORK RED BULLS (4-4-2): Luis Robles - Kosuke Kimura, Jamison Olave, Markus Holgersson, Roy Miller - Eric Alexander (Lloyd Sam 88), Juninho, Tim Cahill, Jonny Steele (Brandon Barklage 90) - Fabian Espindola (Dax McCarty 77), Thierry Henry.

TEAM NEWS

• The dramatic late goal extended the Red Bulls undefeated streak to six games, their fifth victory in that time.
• “It’s a huge win for us and the organization,” Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke said. “It’s a quality team. It’s a team that’s won two championships. I thought the second half we came out with some bite and took it to them.”
• Said Thierry Henry: “I don’t think we played well today. I don’t think L.A. deserved to lose. The only thing I learned today is we can win these type of games. I thought L.A. was better than us today.”
• After scoring one goal in his first 20 MLS matches, Tim Cahill has now scored four times in the last five games, including the game’s only goal twice – the win against LA and the first meeting with Columbus.
• “When I get my chances and I make space — it hurt them hard today,” Cahill said. “It’s good when you have a chance to produce in big games and I’ve managed to come up for us lately.”
• Said Petke: “He was never criticized by anyone here. Now that he’s scoring goals everybody seems to think he’s doing great. I thought he was doing great all along.”
• While it was the first goal the Red Bulls have scored this season from a free kick, it was their fifth goal from a set piece – tied with Columbus for second-most in MLS, behind FC Dallas (with 8).
• For Juninho Pernambucano, it was his fourth assist this season – all have come on standard situations (the first three on corner kicks).
• “I asked Thierry [Henry] to put the block on [center back Omar] Gonzalez,” Cahill said. “He’s a big guy, heading everything away, and I knew where Juni was going to put it, I knew it was going to be dangerous. It was just [about] getting contact.”
• Said Henry: “I watched the Knicks game, I tried to pick up some stuff from the guys on TV. If you look at the replay, I don’t touch him. I just stand by him and when he turns, he runs into me then Tim gets a couple of steps to be ahead of the game.”
• Returning to the Red Bulls back four after a one-match absence, Jamisón Olave anchored the New York backline in its fourth shutout of the season.
• “The biggest reason we brought him in here was for what he’s been doing,” Petke said. “We don’t expect him to be the point man, to be honest with you. The way he hunts the ball, the way he reads the game, his catch-up speed is unbelievable, and he’s a guy who makes the difference. From the first moment, the first tackle he gets into, he’s somebody that a forward is going to be looking over his shoulder for the rest of the game. He doesn’t do it dirty, he does it very timed, and he does it very well.”

READ: Thanks to latest run, Red Bulls back off talk of adding defenders

COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew hit the road and put an end to a two-game losing skid, remaining undefeated all-time at BMO Field with a 1-0 victory against Toronto FC. The Crew are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 15 points from 11 matches.

LAST MATCH

• The game's lone goal came in the 42nd minute. Federico Higuaín sent a pinpoint pass that split the TFC defense and Dominic Oduro ran onto it before lashing home a low shot from just inside the area to beat goalkeeper Joe Bendik.
• Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum was called upon to make three saves in keeping the clean sheet.
• Crew head coach Robert Warzycha made two changes to the team that lost 2-0 to the Colorado Rapids at Crew Stadium. Eric Gehrig came into central defense for Chad Marshall, and Justin Meram started in place of the suspended Jairo Arrieta.
• COLUMBUS CREW (4-4-1-1): Andy Gruenebaum - Josh Williams, Eric Gehrig, Glauber, Tyson Wahl (Chad Barson 83) - Eddie Gaven, Tony Tchani, Matias Sanchez, Justin Meram (Ethan Finlay 79) - Federico Higuain - Dominic Oduro (Aaron Schoenfeld 85).

READ: MLS Commissioner Don Garber upholds two-game suspension to Jairo Arrieta
TEAM NEWS

• The Crew ended their two-game losing slide with the win at Toronto FC, still undefeated all-time at BMO Field.
• “I think we looked sharp. It was a good performance in the first and second half,” said Crew head coach Robert Warzycha. “We gave them a couple of chances in the first half, most of them on second balls. The second half was very clean and I’m happy with the win.”
• The Crew have scored six goals over their last seven games. Dominic Oduro has four of them, including the winner in Toronto. “I’m here to try and help my team win games, and we just did that. I’m really happy, I’m excited. I’m happy that I’m keeping my confidence up by scoring goals but at the end of the day we really worked hard,” said Oduro “It’s all about the team right now but it’s also motivation for me to keep scoring and hopefully it will keep going that way.”
• Federico Higuaín recorded his third assist of the season. He has been involved with each of the Crew’s last three goals, setting up two and scoring one; he has two goals and three assists this year.
• “He has something that is special. He is always looking for the goal and his shots, one was from probably 30 yards and the second one from 25, and he didn’t even hesitate,” said Warzycha. “He had the ball in front of him and he took the shot and almost scored twice.”
• With Chad Marshall out injured after suffering a hamstring strain in the match in Colorado, Eric Gehrig made his first league appearance of the season, coming into central defense.
• “We got the shutout, we won so I must have done something right,” Gehrig said. “ … I was happy I got the call. It's hard when you're only getting games here and there, but you can't make excuses. We're all professionals here."
• Gehrig will almost certainly be called upon again to fill a center back role against New York. Marshall is not expected to be available, and partner Glaúber will have to serve a one-match ban after receiving a fifth yellow card in the TFC game. “Maybe in the first half, he was hesitating being on the ball, deciding where he was going to pass it,” Warzycha said. “The second half, he was good.”
• In addition, there will likely be no changes in central midfield, with Tony Tchani and Matias Sánchez expected to reprise their role. Agustín Viana has missed three consecutive games with a hamstring injury, while Danny O'Rourke has missed the last two with an ankle injury.
• The Crew are also expecting to be without Jairo Arrieta for the second match of his suspension, though the decision by the MLS Disciplinary Committee has been appealed. Arrieta has also been called in by the Costa Rican national team.
• “We are preparing the lineup to play without him,” Warzycha said. “ … He's supposed to leave after the New York game. Obviously, if he's not going to play he can leave early to be with his team. I don't mind.”
• Defender Chad Barson became the first Homegrown Player from the Crew's class of 2013 to play and fourth in team history to see league action, coming on in the 83rd minute. “At that point of the game everyone on our team was in preserve mode, survival mode trying to get the result,” Barson said. “It was a little different than stepping into a game that had a flow.”