HARRISON – The New York Red Bulls (11-11-7) finished the month of August with a 0-0 draw vs the Columbus Crew (12-6-10) Saturday. It was the clubs’ first meeting of the 2025 season.
In their first meeting since round one of the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs, the Red Bulls wanted to continue their successful run vs their original 96 rivals. As fans recalled from last November, New York upset the then reigning MLS Cup Champions, which propelled their run to the MLS Cup. With both squads coming off losses from last weekend, the pressure was on both of them to earn a successful result on Saturday.
One could say the pressure was more so targeted towards the Red Bulls, on and off the pitch. Many in the stands and those covering the match spotted a banner in the supporter section reading “poor management breeds complacency.” This was in response to the summer transfer window where the front office was unable to fill their open designated player slot.
Right from the opening whistle, New York’s work in their attacking-half was very visible. With four shots and three shots on goal in the first half, the Red Bulls had their moments to score early. Add on the fact Columbus struggled to generate any offense with almost 56 percent of possession, it had to be considered a decent first half for New York.
But after 45 minutes, the Red Bulls were scoreless alongside their rivals from Ohio. New York nearly took the lead in the 43rd minute, however, when midfielder Mohammed Sofo found captain Emil Forsberg for the goal. Unfortunately for New York, Forsberg was ruled offside and the goal was no good.
Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte deserved some credit for stopping New York from scoring as he had three saves in the first half.
The game started to open up for both squads entering the second half as each had tremendous opportunity to take the lead. In the 56th minute, forward Eric Choupo-Moting almost put New York up with a highlight goal, but his shot was saved. Three minutes later, Columbus forward Diego Rossi missed a perfect chance to score with his shot going wide of the net.
Nearly 20 minutes later, arguably the most notable moment of the match for New York occurred when Swedish midfielder Gustav Berggren finally made his MLS debut. The newly signed midfielder entered in the 77th minute, coming on for a banged-up Daniel Edelman. Conversely, Columbus’ new signee, Wessam Abou Ali, subbed off at the 80th minute after starting his first MLS match.
The last fifteen minutes of the match ended up being more dull than eventful. Outside a missed Dylan Nealis header from a Forsberg corner in stoppage time, neither team were able to score the game-winning goal.
“We are frustrated that we didn’t win this game today, but when we are looking to this performance against a really good team, we played for me especially against the ball very well,” New York manager Sandro Schwarz said in the postmatch press conference. “We are a little bit disappointed about the result, that’s clear. But the performance for me, to be honest, was one of the best games, especially against the ball.”
While New York was unable to earn three points vs a competitive Columbus squad, they did reach a historic milestone. Goalkeeper Carlos Coronel’s clean sheet was New York’s 100th at their home stadium of Sports Illustrated Stadium according to Red Bulls Communications.
The Red Bulls will be off next week and will be back in action on September 13 in Oregon to face the Portland Timbers.
