New York Red Bulls vs Columbus Crew scorless 0-0
Harrison,NJ (August 30, 2025) — Columbus Crew’s attack shut down by New York Red Bulls in scoreless draw away game.
Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls finished with a scoreless draw in their first meeting of the season. Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte earned their first regular-season clean sheet since March.
The Crew are no strangers to lackluster offensive outings recently, though in their scoreless draw against the New York Red Bulls on Aug. 30 the offense was shut down in a way it had yet to be all season.
After finishing the first half without a shot recorded, the Crew took just three by the end of the game, their lowest number of shots in a game this regular season.
Replay: Columbus Crew limited offensively, record scoreless draw vs New York Red Bulls
Only one of those attempts was on target, a mid-range shot from forward Daniel Gazdag in the 65th minute, but it landed in the hands of goalkeeper Carlos Coronel.
The Crew’s best scoring opportunity came six minutes earlier when striker Wessam Abou Ali connected with forward Diego Rossi.
Abou Ali, near midfield, tapped a one-touch pass to Rossi that opened a run for the forward. Once Rossi was in he box, he took a shot that went inches outside the right goalpost.
“This is a game sometimes,” Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said. “We had one big chance that we had to score. We know that. We didn’t do it. … We tried to attack, but also, they (the Red Bulls) were in a position that was really aggressive, and they did a really good job on that.”
This matchup marked the first time these teams faced off since the 2024 MLS playoffs, where the Red Bulls eliminated the Crew 2-0 in the best-of-three first-round series.
In the first game of the series, the Red Bulls defeated the Crew 1-0 using the same defensive tactics that Columbus would again fail to score against 10 months later.
“They were so compact toward the middle,” Crew defender Malte Amunden said. “We tried to find solutions to that. It didn’t always happen. They did a good effort closing the middle and making it difficult for us.”
At the core of the Red Bulls’ defense was their press, which kept the Crew from building an attack, especially in the first half.
“Red Bulls did what they like to do with the press,” Nancy said. “This is the Red Bull side, they do it well. I think that we did a good (job being) patient when we needed to be patient against the press. After that, we found a way to be on their half, but … we didn’t score.”
The press allowed for the multiple counterattacks on which the Red Bulls found a majority of their eight shot attempts.
During the 43rd minute, Red Bulls midfielder Emil Forsberg took a shot off a counterattack that went into the back of the net. However, the goal was overturned on the field due to Forsberg being offside.
Columbus Crew record first regular-season clean sheet since March with Patrick Schulte in goal, the Crew holding the Red Bulls scoreless marked the first time since June that they recorded a regular-season clean sheet.
Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte’s last clean sheet in the regular season came in a scoreless draw against the Houston Dynamo on March 8. Schulte’s only clean sheet since then was a 1-0 victory over Club Leon in Leagues Cup on Aug. 5.
While Schulte recorded four saves against the Red Bulls, he credited the backline for helping ensure no goals were conceded.
“I think we really limited them,” Schulte said. “They had a couple of moments in transition, but I think we defended really well within the frame of the goal, made some big-time clearances and killed the counterattacks when we could.”
Columbus Crew need to start building momentum ahead of playoffs
Nancy described this matchup to the feeling of a playoff game, but the Crew still have offensive struggles to straighten out in order to find success in the postseason.
The Crew have scored only three goals in the three games since being eliminated from Leagues Cup. Unlike the Red Bulls game, Columbus took over 10 shots against both Toronto FC and the New England Revolution, and still failed to secure a victory against either.
“Ultimately, you want to gain momentum throughout the end of the season going into playoffs,” Amundsen said. “We want to score, yes. A positive today is that we keep a clean sheet. That’s very much needed. … You see small moments of Wessam (Abou Ali) getting in today, creating something. I’m sure we’re going to find a solution.”
