The Columbus Crew inched closer toward the end of the 2025 MLS regular season on Saturday night with a 0-0 draw against the New York Red Bulls at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
With the result, the Black & Gold woke up on Sunday morning sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference standings with 46 points from 28 matches played. It should be noted the club has a game in hand with third-place Charlotte FC, which has 50 points.
The point is that this is the crucial part of the season, when small things can have big ramifications. In fact, head coach Wilfried Nancy and goalkeeper Patrick Schulte said the match felt like it was a postseason one – against the club that Columbus played in the playoffs a year ago.
“I think this one really felt like a playoff game,” Schulte said. “Not that the others didn't, but it's kind of that point in the season that it's now do or die. Put your body on the line to get the three points or to advance. Give yourself the best chance of going forward in the season. Yeah, I feel like that was kind of a message of this is what it's going to be like from here on out. We’ve got to put that focus going forward.”
Nancy said Saturday night was another example where his club had the moments to score, but it didn’t capitalize and had to settle with a point.
“This is a game sometimes like this when we had one big chance that we have to score, we know that; we didn't do it,” Nancy said. “At this type of moment, this is a playoff game. We tried to attack, but also, they are in a position that is really aggressive and, they did a really good job on that. It could happen. I think that we had the opportunity to score, and we didn’t do it.”
But there were still bright spots in the match. Wessam Abou Ali, who made his debut last weekend against the New England Revolution, made his first start for Nancy and played 80 minutes in New Jersey.
As for Schulte, his clean sheet was his fourth this season across all competitions: three in MLS and one in Leagues Cup.
“Patrick wants to do all the time well,” Nancy said. “In this game, he was good. I'm not surprised. He could have been a bit better before; he didn't do it. Again, this is football. The most important is to move forward and to think about the next game. Good for him, and good for the team.”
Up next for the Crew is a trip to face Atlanta United FC next weekend. The Crew have secured a point in 24 of 30 road matches (13-6-11) since 2024.
