New York Red Bulls Spark Odds in Upset Win Over Columbus Crew
Believe it or not, the Columbus Crew’s wonder season has finally ended in a shocking fashion – at the hands of the New York Red Bulls. Now it seems that the latter club has become quite a fan favorite heading into the next stretch of the playoffs, and they may even be a rising contender to win the MLS Cup now more than ever. Perhaps one of the biggest turnarounds of the MLS season, it does seem that the New York Red Bulls now have a golden opportunity to make the most of its chances and deliver a decisive push to the top of the league with the hopes of marking down its name on the biggest stage of the league. Beating the Columbus Crew is a massive victory, and that means one of the heavy favorites to win the league title – alongside Inter Miami, Los Angeles FC, and LA Galaxy – are now knocked out of the picture and will no longer thrill the crowd with its elite performances. New York grabbed the first win in the series, before finally clinching a thriller shootout in the second game to close out the ordeal. A Thriller to Remember The Crew looked in control early, taking a 3-1 lead in the shootout, but Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel became the hero, making crucial saves against Yevhen Cheberko, Max Arfsten, and Alexandru Mățan to extend the shootout to a dramatic seventh round. With the pressure on, homegrown midfielder Daniel Edelman coolly converted his penalty, securing the Red Bulls' 4-3 shootout win and sending them to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2018, ending a five-year streak of early playoff exits. The match saw a tense first half, before Arfsten’s 55th-minute goal gave Columbus the lead. New York responded with goals from Dante Vanzeir and Emil Forsberg, but Christian Ramirez’s stoppage-time equalizer forced penalties. Despite two key saves from Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, Edelman’s successful penalty sealed the Red Bulls' victory and sent the crowd into raptures. New York now joins the Seattle Sounders, LA Galaxy, and the Minnesota United as the only four teams to advance to the next round as of the time of writing, and one can say that there are now high expectations for the Red Bulls to actually make the most of its chances as a new contender in picture now more than ever. Odds on the Table New York now finds itself just sixth in the odds list as of the time of writing. There are many people who have betted against the Red Bulls so far, but this upset win really changes the dynamics now more than ever, and it cannot be denied that there are now bigger expectations for them to make the best out of their run this time. Considering that the team finds itself facing against either contenders Cincinnati or their home rivals New York City FC, it is going to be a fun ride from that end. As of the time of writing, the Red Bulls stand with odds of +1,497 to win the competition, and while that isn’t a lot at first, it is worth noting that the competition is now closing down to its final moments. That just means that the Red Bulls are expected to make some good push towards the big goal. Who knows, maybe they can even knock off a championship this time around and deliver a huge performance that will see them sit at the top of the MLS World now more than ever.