After collecting a first road victory of the MLS campaign last weekend, New York City FC have a chance to claim another first this Saturday, having never beaten the Columbus Crew at Lower.com Field.
Columbus are unbeaten in their last seven domestic outings, drawing Inter Miami 2-2 on Tuesday, while the Pigeons came back to earn a 1-1 draw with Charlotte FC a day later.
Match preview
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The Crew have been one of the hottest teams in the league, going without a loss since late May and sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference with 37 points.
While points on the road are always valuable, Wilfried Nancy knows that his side missed an opportunity for more in Fort Lauderdale this week, conceding an equalising goal in the 90th minute.
That was the second successive time this group had conceded an equaliser in the 90th minute or later on the road, with the previous one occurring earlier this year when the Crew were in the Bronx to face the Boys in Blue, and gave up a goal in stoppage time to draw 1-1.
Since moving to Lower.com Field, however, Columbus are a perfect 2-0 when facing NYCFC, winning both of those encounters by a single goal.
The highest-scoring team in MLS this year (42 goals) have found the back of the net multiple times in six successive home fixtures, while they have not been shut out of a domestic contest in Columbus since drawing 0-0 with the Chicago Fire in early September of last season.
On their current unbeaten run, the Crew have not trailed any encounter for longer than 28 minutes, and that was in their final home contest in May when they edged the Colorado Rapids 3-2.
Their eight home victories this year are already one more than this team accumulated in the entire 2022 campaign, while one more win would equal their total at home from 2021.
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Just a few days removed from earning a first MLS triumph since April, the Pigeons were forced to play catch-up versus Charlotte on Wednesday, trailing after 17 minutes but scoring late to salvage a point.
That was the sixth time this season that Nick Cushing had seen his side come back to earn a result when faced with a second-half deficit, though they have never been able to win a match this year in that scenario.
If the Pigeons can emerge victorious on Saturday, it would be their first victory in Columbus since narrowly winning 3-2 at the old Historic Crew Stadium in 2017, while it would only be the second time since last July that they had won consecutive away fixtures in this competition.
All of their victories in 2023 have occurred when NYCFC have netted the opening goal, although this team have also squandered seven points this year after taking a 1-0 lead.
Despite only managing one victory in their previous 13 MLS affairs, the Pigeons find themselves just a single point behind CF Montreal for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, though Le CFM have played two fewer games.
With just 23 goals after 22 games, it is the fewest that this franchise have ever scored at this stage of a regular-season campaign, while New York City have notched the third-fewest goals in the Eastern Conference this year (23).
Team News
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Will Sands missed the previous Columbus match as he is still recovering from a knee injury, Kevin Molino could be back for this game after Trinidad and Tobago were knocked out in the group phase of the Gold Cup, while Jacen Russell-Rowe and Aidan Morris will not be in the lineup as they prepare to face each other this weekend when Canada and the United States meet in the quarter-finals of that tournament.
Darlington Nagbe and Christian Ramirez scored on Tuesday, while Cucho Hernandez picked up his 10th assist of the regular season, moving him into a tie with Thiago Almada for first in the league.
The last time they hosted New York City in 2022, Lucas Zelarayan had a brace, Hernandez netted as well and Luis Diaz collected a pair of assists in a 3-2 triumph.
NYCFC were without Santiago Rodriguez on Wednesday as he was serving a yellow card suspension, Thiago Martins sat out due to a knee injury and James Sands is still on international duty with the US.
Braian Cufre scored nine minutes from the end, enabling the Pigeons to collect a single point versus Charlotte, while Richy Ledezma was back in the starting lineup for the first time since their 2-2 draw away to Atlanta United.
In its previous meeting versus the Crew this season, Gabriel Segal levelled the match at 1-1 with a stoppage-time goal, with Luis Barraza saving three of the four shots he faced.
Columbus Crew possible starting lineup:
Schulte; Amundsen, Degenek, Moreira; Diaz, Matan, Nagbe, Yeboah; Hernandez, Ramirez, Zelarayan
New York City FC possible starting lineup:
Barraza; Gray, Chanot, Alfaro; Ilenic, Morales, Parks, Cufre; Pellegrini, Rodriguez; Pereira
We say: Columbus Crew 3-1 New York City FC
The Columbus attack have looked unstoppable at home all year long, and it is difficult to envision the Pigeons' backline being able to keep so many quality players quiet for 90 minutes.
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Top tip
Joel Lefevre
