The New York Red Bulls sealed the MLS' last remaining conference final spot by beating the Columbus Crew 3-0 on Sunday to set up a date with Atlanta United later this month.
After a 1-0 first-leg defeat in Ohio, the Red Bulls tied it up on aggregate when Aaron Long swept home a nod-down via a deflection off teammate Alex Muyl after 17 minutes.
With the game heading to extra time, Daniel Royer struck a quickfire brace in the latter stages to seal a 3-1 aggregate victory for the Supporters' Shield winners.
👋, 🛡 pic.twitter.com/N57JixPE6y
— New York Red Bulls (@NewYorkRedBulls) November 12, 2018
The Crew were unbeaten in their last four MLS meetings with the Red Bulls, but that form went out the window on a tense night in Harrison, N.J.
The home side opened the scoring with what looked like a perfectly-executed training ground routine. Royer headed a deep free-kick back across goal and Long's shot deflected off Muyl and past Goalkeeper of the Year Zack Steffen.
That goal had the game heading into extra-time at 1-1 on aggregate, and both teams remained guarded in their play knowing the tie sat on a knife edge.
Tyler Adams missed a presentable opportunity for the hosts when he skied a cutback over the bar, but his Red Bulls side struck with 17 minutes remaining.
Neat interplay around the edge of the penalty area was too much for the Crew's defense to handle, and after the ball was worked to Royer in a pocket of space, the winger finished neatly to lift the roof off Red Bull Arena.
The hosts were still vulnerable to a decisive Crew away goal, but they banished that fear three minutes later when Royer cut inside from the left flank and bamboozled Steffen with a powerful, swerving strike from the edge of the box.
It was Royer's third brace in the last four months. The Red Bulls, who beat Atlanta to the Supporters' Shield by two points, will now face their regular-season rivals over two legs later this month with an MLS Cup final berth as the grand prize. The Red Bulls have not reached the league's biggest game since 2008.
