SOCCER: Cade Cowell, Red Bulls take aim at suddenly porous Crew

The New York Red Bulls aim to build on a rare win when they host the Columbus Crew on Wednesday in Harrison, N.J.

First-year Red Bulls coach Michael Bradley was pleased with how his young team (4-5-3, 15 points) had been playing, but it took a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday to snap an 0-3-2 skid.

The win gave a big boost to forward Cade Cowell, who scored his first goal for the Red Bulls in his 10th match. Cowell is on a one-year loan from Guadalajara in Mexico, where he scored 12 goals and added five assists in 69 matches over the past two seasons. Before that, the 22-year-old U.S. national team forward made 104 appearances for the San Jose Earthquakes from 2020-23, recording 10 goals and 14 assists.

“Cade is a really, really good guy, really hard worker,” Bradley said. “Not having scored was weighing on him a little, so from a personal standpoint, I’m really happy he got his first goal. It came at a really important time, and we’re going to keep pushing him because there’s even more potential there.”

Cowell and his teammates will try to exploit a vulnerable Columbus Crew defense (3-6-3, 12 points). Since taking a 2-0 lead over Minnesota United on May 2, Columbus has allowed six unanswered goals in losses to the Loons (3-2) and New York City FC (3-0).

Defender Malte Amundsen, who left the Minnesota match at halftime with a thigh injury, has not played since. He trained on Tuesday and may be available against the Red Bulls.

“We definitely miss him,” Crew head coach Henrik Rydstrom said. “He is so important in understanding how we play.”

Rydstrom added that the team may need an attitude adjustment to break their two-match losing streak.

“We haven’t put in a full 90-minute performance week in and week out so far,” he said. “Maybe two games are good, then the next isn’t. You don’t see it coming.”

-Field Level Media/Reuters