Red Bulls Advance to Eastern Conference Finals, Await Opponent

Despite suffering a 2-1 loss to D.C. United on Saturday, the New York Red Bulls will advance to the Eastern Conference Finals as they collected a 3-2 aggregate victory over two legs. The Red Bulls will face the winner of tomorrow’s match between the New England Revolution and Columbus Crew.

The Revs are the favorites to win tomorrow as they currently hold a 4-2 advantage. Since away goals serve as the first tie-breaker in this year’s playoffs, the Crew would either have to win by three or more goals or score more than four goals in a two-goal victory (for example, 5-3).

Should the Revs advance, they would first visit Red Bull Arena before hosting the second leg at Gillette Stadium.

The Red Bulls won both of their regular season fixtures against the Revolution this year. Both meetings, however, occurred early in the season before the Revs acquired Jermaine Jones.

New York and New England have met three times in the postseason with the Revs advancing each time. In 2003, the Revs earned a 3-1 win on aggregate in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Two years later, the Revs would again best the Red Bulls in the Semifinals when they claimed a 3-2 aggregate victory. A third Semifinals meeting occurred in 2007, and it was a Taylor Twellman goal that separated the two teams.

A Red Bulls-Revolution match would provide plenty of intriguing story lines, especially revolving around Thierry Henry and the Gillette Stadium turf.