The New York Red Bulls are looking to move on to the Eastern Conference Semifinals with a victory over Columbus Crew at Red Bull Arena on Sunday afternoon.
New York won the first match of the Best-of-3 series, 1-0. With a win, they would knock out the reigning MLS Cup Champions.
New York will deploy the same Starting XI that saw them to the victory on Tuesday in Ohio, with Emil Forsberg donning the captain’s armband in the midfield. Dante Vanzeir and Lewis Morgan lead the attack.
Morgan, who played his second career playoff match for the Red Bulls, tallied his first career MLS Cup Playoff assist and the ninth of the season across all competitions.
Morgan has recorded a goal contribution in back-to-back playoff matches, after scoring against F.C. Cincinnati in 2022 in his only playoff match at Red Bull Arena. The Scottish international has posted five goal contributions in his last four matches, including four assists.
Sean Nealis, Andrés Reyes and Dylan Nealis get the nod, with John Tolkin and Cameron Harper on the wings.
The Red Bulls have posted a 22-13-7 mark at home against the Crew, including a 2-0-1 mark at home in the playoffs, with both victories coming at Red Bull Arena in 2015 and 2018.
Felipe Carballo and Daniel Edelman look to lock up the central midfield for New York.
Carballo scored the game-winner in the first matchup of the series, his first for the club.
Carlos Coronel starts in goal for New York, fresh off an eight-save performance.
The Paraguayan international recorded his 55th win across all competitions for the club, which tied him with Tony Meola for second place in franchise history in wins across all competitions. Coronel has five career wins against Columbus.
Head Coach Sandro Schwarz will have Cory Burke, Wiki Carmona, Ronald Donkor, Noah Eile, Julian Hall, Elias Manoel, Serge Ngoma and Peter Stroud available off the bench. Ryan Meara will be the backup goalkeeper.
Roald Mitchell and Kyle Duncan are sidelined.
Coverage on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV begins at 4:30 p.m. ET. Steve Cangialosi will have the primary play-by-play responsibilities and will be alongside Danny Higginbotham on the English side, while Bruno Vain will have the play-by-play responsibilities and will be alongside Andres Agulla on the Spanish side.
New York Red Bulls Radio begins at 4 p.m. ET with Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Toyota, hosted by Matt Harmon and Steve Jolley.
With a win, New York advances to the next round of the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs. If the Crew win, a Game 3 will be played on November 10 in Ohio for a winner-take-all match.
Red Bulls Radio
Listen to every match, live, on New York Red Bulls Radio! Veteran soccer play-by-play voice Matt Harmon will handle the broadcasts alongside former MetroStars and Red Bulls standout Steve Jolley providing color commentary.
