Tuesday's Semifinal First Leg of the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs at MAPFRE Stadium saw Columbus Crew SC soar to a 4-1 victory over New York City FC in the First Leg of the semifinal. Sunday's Second Leg will cement either Columbus or New York's place in the Eastern Conference Championship against the winner of Toronto FC and the New York Red Bulls semifinal.

Entering Sunday's 5 p.m. finale, here are the storylines to keep in mind:  

Starting off on the Right Foot

In the eight all-time meetings between the Black & Gold and NYCFC, there has been no shortage of scoring. In Tuesday’s First Leg of the Conference Semifinals between the two clubs, Crew SC ripped apart the 10-man City team 4-1. Columbus has now scored 19 goals against them, with NYCFC trailing 18 goals against Crew SC.

Leg 1 of this series means the Black & Gold have a 1-0-0 mark in the MLS Cup Playoffs against NYCFC, the largest aggregate deficit in MLS playoff history.

Goals Galore

Tuesday’s Halloween match provided lots of treats to the Black & Gold including four to the back of the net. Forward Ola Kamara opened the scoring in the 6^thminute after he put away a Federico Higuain rebound. Shortly into the second half, City’s Alexander Callens was shown a red card bringing the away squad down to 10 men. Midfielder Artur took full advantage of the situation and doubled Columbus’ lead just six minutes later, making it his first professional goal.

Despite David Villa’s consolation goal in the 78^th minute, midfielder Harrison Afful made sure Columbus got the last say.  In a stoppage-time stunner, Afful’s masterful dribbling in an NYCFC packed box found him enough space to launch one to the back of the net. Ironically, the last time Afful found the back of the net was against NYCFC just over a year ago.

Break a Leg

The Black & Gold increased their unbeaten streak to 12 matches after Tuesday’s victory. Over that span, they have also outscored their opponents 23-11, with four shutouts. The second and final leg of the Black & Gold’s Eastern Conference Semifinal series with NYCFC will take place on Sunday at Yankee Stadium in New York. Should the Black & Gold win on aggregate score over the two legs of the series, they would advance to the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Championship against the winner of the Toronto FC vs. New York Red Bulls Eastern Conference Semifinal series.

• Last match at New York (Citi Field): Oct 22. 2-2 draw.
• NYCFC are 1-0-3 at home against Columbus all-time.
• NYCFC won two matches this season by three goals. (March 12 vs DC, May 21 vs ORL)

The away goals rule: The away goals rule is a tiebreaking method that is used to determine the winner of a two-legged series, such as the MLS Conference Semifinals and Conference Championships. If two teams are tied on aggregate at the end of regulation time of the second leg, the away goals rule is applied as the first tiebreaker. The winner is the team with the most goals scored away from home.