Red Bulls-Crew Preview
The New York Red Bulls appear to have righted the ship after their longest losing streak in five years.
They'll aim for a third straight victory Saturday night when they visit the Columbus Crew, though they'll be without a key member of the back line.
New York (6-5-5) was outscored 10-4 in losing four straight May 24-June 20 but has since given up one goal in winning back-to-back games against Real Salt Lake and New York City FC.
The Red Bulls also won 4-1 over the New York Cosmos on Wednesday in a U.S. Open Cup matchup. Sacha Kljestan scored on a penalty in that game after assisting on two goals against NYCFC. He had been without a goal or an assist in five straight league matches prior to the Hudson River Derby.
"It certainly feels good. It always feels a little bit better when you beat your rivals, and so to win at NYCFC over the weekend felt really good," he told the team's official website. "I guess it felt probably a little bit extra special for us for the way that we did (win), the way we came back and the mentality we showed and how good we played in the second half."
Defender Chris Duvall will be sidelined three to four months after suffering a broken tibia in a collision with the Cosmos' Hunter Gorskie, however. Duvall has started 14 league matches with one goal and one assist.
"We're a little thin right now in the back, that's the facts," coach Jesse Marsch said. "We're going to require our guys to dig in and now make sure our defenders are ready to get to put in some minutes for the next few games until after the Gold Cup until we can get some guys back."
New York won 2-1 at Columbus on March 28, giving it a 5-2-2 mark with 18 goals in the last nine meetings. Bradley Wright-Phillips scored and also assisted on Mike Grella's goal.
The Red Bulls have also won three times in their last five road matches with the Crew.
Columbus (5-6-6) has been much better at home with a plus-eight goal differential compared to minus-eight on the road, tied for MLS' second-largest margin between the two.
The Crew, though, have surrendered 15 goals while going 1-3-4 in their last eight overall matches. Their 25 goals are tied for the second most in the league, but they've also given up 25.
That shaky defense figures to be tested by New York.
"They have a lot of components to their attack, which will make it difficult for us," defender Michael Parkhurst told the team's official website. "I think we have to be tight in the back, really put the game on our tone, keep possession of the ball."
Columbus' Kei Kamara leads MLS with 12 goals, while Ethan Finlay's 10 assists are also the most in the league.