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Afternoon kickaround

Analysis: RBNY posts huge upset over Crew, Minnesota squeaks by RSL, plus Yanks abroad update

ASN's Brian Sciaretta breaks down the RBNY upset over Columbus and Minnesota's shootout win over RSL. After that, he looks at some of the games from Europe. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
October 30, 2024
10:00 AM

THE PLAYOFFS continued on Tuesday night with both home teams losing, and the New York Red Bulls pulling off a massive upset in Ohio to put the Columbus Crew on the brink heading into Game 2 in New Jersey. Meanwhile abroad, AC Milan was missing a lot of players and was soundly beaten at home by Napoli.

There was, of course, a lot more to talk about but let’s get through it in detail.

 

Red Bulls upset Columbus

 

While previewing Tuesday’s games, my thoughts on the Red Bulls were negative. I didn’t think they had the ability to beat a top team based on their play since the summer. I wasn’t impressed with the team or its direction. I figured they were the least likely team to pull off a first round upset both because of the state of the Red Bulls, but also how good the Crew have been.

But as I said earlier in the week, don’t bet on MLS. I didn’t make a prediction, but I figured a 3-0 Columbus win was in order.

In this game, the Red Bulls came out sharp and aggressive. Then in the 25th minute, RBNY got a deserved goal that began with an Emil Forsberg corner that was kept alive by headers between Dylan Nealis and Lewis Morgan. Then it was hammered home by Uruguayan designated player Felipe Carballo, who had thus far struggled since joining the club midseason.

For the rest of the game, Columbus dominated possession but the Red Bulls expertly absorbed pressure and made few mistakes defensively. Despite only having 22% possession for the game, RBNY still continued to have very good chances. Lewis Morgan had a 1v1 with Patrick Schulte but lost the ball as he moved in. He also had another chance that forced a Schulte save.

The Crew had chances, but the absence of Diego Rossi to a back injury was costly. When the Crew had chances, they were either let down by poor finishing, were foiled by effective emergency defending, or saw RBNY keeper Carlos Coronell make a big save.

A few thoughts on this game:

RBNY was stellar off the ball: the Red Bulls were focused defensively in a way they haven’t been all season. The players covered for each other, and everyone was making the right decisions as to where to be.

Crew lacked urgency: The Crew have played so many big games over the past 12 months that is has almost become normal for them. They’re the big team that everyone wants to beat. Now in the playoffs, it’s going to be tougher to match the intensity of their opponents. This was the biggest game RBNY has played in a very long time. For Columbus, it was not. Now Columbus has their backs against the wall.

Can the Red Bulls keep it up?: My predictions have been way off this postseason, but the Red Bulls are going to need luck be on their side to keep this up. Wilfried Nancy said Rossi should be back. On the flip side, emotion alone can win games. It can’t win seasons, but it can win a game. The Red Bulls are on the brink of a truly special upset. But this Columbus team has responded so well in many situations when their back is against the wall (going to Mexico for wins over Tigres and Monterrey in the Champions Cup). Columbus remains the favorites, but their margin for error is gone.

 

Minnesota sneak past RSL

 

Minnesota travelled to Utah and escaped with a shootout win over Real Salt Lake following a 0-0 draw. Here are a few thoughts.

Great goalkeeping: Both Dayne St. Clair and Zac MacMath had great games. For MacMath, it was his best game of the season. Both goalkeepers turned away multiple shots that would normally be goals. It was any team’s chance to win this.

Real Salt Lake was flat: The home team seemed to struggle for long stretches with ideas to break down Minnesota’s defense. Part of this is on Diego Luna and Matt Crooks, who were both below what they normally can produce.

Yeboah and Arrango: Part of the anticipation of this series was each team’s center forward. Kelvin Yeboah has been a tremendous upgrade for Minnesota since he arrived in midseason. Chicho Arango has now gone 10 goals since scoring and is forcing the issue now and he looks frustrated.

Minnesota in control: Game one could have gone either way, but Minnesota will be playing at home and should now be more confident. This was a tough draw for Real Salt Lake because Minnesota is one of the stronger teams in the West since the summer. But RSL needs Arango and Luna to play up to the high level they’ve shown. Also, they can really use MacMath to continue like he did on Tuesday.

 

Abroad games

 

AC Milan was missing a lot of players and dropped a 2-0 decision at home to Napoli. Christian Pulisic had flu symptoms and was limited to minutes off the bench. Yunus Musah started and went the whole 90. Pulisic was able to play the last 28 minutes.

For Musah, it was a snapshot of were he is as a player. He did a few really nice things in controlling the ball well, but is final ball was simply off. Defensively, he wasn’t always in the right spot. He’s not addressing his weaknesses as quickly as everyone wants.

Pulisic, meanwhile, missed a shot late but his effort was admirable given that he was sick.

Also, of note in Europe, Konrad de la Fuente made his first start for Lausanne in the Swiss Super League and picked up a nice assist via a cross on the final goal of 3-0 away win over Yverdon that moved Lausanne into sixth place. After drawing a penalty over the weekend, de  la Fuente is in a positive stretch. That is welcome news for him given his struggles in recent years.

In the German Cup, Cole Campbell came into the game for Borussia Dortmund away at Wolfsburg in the 77th minute with the game 0-0. Wolfsburg eventually won 1-0 with a winner in the 117th minute, but Campbell was given an extended run out just days after making his first team debut in a Bundesliga loss. Overall, it was a slightly positive outing for Campbell who showed he belonged despite being just a teenager. But there were moments where he looked like he had some growing up to do on the field as well.

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