MLS Round-up: Dallas downed in Portland as the Crew tame the Red Bulls.

The Crew tame the Red Bulls during first leg in Columbus.

It took just 9 seconds for the New York Red Bulls to fall behind against the Columbus Crew SC on Sunday night (a record in the MLS playoffs). The result of a long ball that eventually found its way to Justin Meram to score it no doubt had the traveling fans thinking it was going to be another one of those years for the team. “It’s embarrassing defending. School yard stuff,” midfielder Dax McCarty said of the goal afterwards.

A sign that the Red Bulls were off the pace, the opening quarter of the game was frantic and could easily have ended by Columbus being further ahead. With the New Yorkers going into the game as favourites many saw this as a test to see if they had overcome the mental frailties of yesteryear and the infamous ‘Curse of Caricola’ . This season has seen Jesse Marsch perfect a possession based style that maximises the potential of his central midfield trio, with their influence key to success.

Meanwhile Gregg Berhalter has preferred to play down the flanks this season. Eager to instigate a long diagonal switch of play to exploit the pace they have out wide, it is no surprise the club went into Sunday’s game topping the league for attempted long balls (2210) as well as long ball completion rate (59.1%). Blessed to have a solid aerial target in Kei Kamara, it’s the runs off him by the likes of Ethan Finlay and Justin Meram that are so dangerous (as proved by their opening goal in which Kamara’s head found Finlay before Meram tucked it away).

INTERVIEW: Crew’s Kei Kamara goes back home to move forward with his career.

With that style helping the Crew stretch the field it also played havoc with a usually compact Red Bulls team. As a direct consequence of the pitch opening up Federico Higuain was able to inhabit pockets of space between the midfield and defence which caused a number of problems for the visitors.

However what was equally as damaging to their chances of a victory against Columbus was the aforementioned performances of Sacha Kljestan and Dax McCarty. This season we’ve often talked about how important McCarty has been for the Red Bulls given his high number of ball recoveries and other defensive strengths. Yet he is just as important on an attacking end with his simple and effective passing an important part of the Red Bulls play.

On Sunday his distribution was incredibly poor as he registered a pass completion of just 66% - his previous low for this season being 75%. That in turn stopped the Red Bulls building a rhythm and while they produced a good number of opportunities (16) only two managed to hit the target.

Despite winning 2-0 the Crew SC may feel like they should have left the game with a greater margin of victory. Springing a handful of dangerous counter-attacks on the Red Bulls they were unable to translate them into more goals, with their direct style negating the Red Bulls high pressure tactic. Eventually adding a second through Kamara it arrived via a silky run from Cedrick Mabwati (a man that once moved from Numancia to Real Betis by buying out his contract for €1.20).

A true poacher’s finish from Kamara it didn’t reflect well on a static Red Bulls backilne, especially given Matt Miazga made the following statement in the build up to the game: “You have to be aware of where he is and make sure he doesn’t get a step on you. In general, you have to be aware of him when he’s in the [penalty area].”

With Crew SC now holding the advantage you could forgive cynical Red Bull fans for thinking the tie is over. They’ve faced the Ohio based club twice in the post-season and lost both times (the 2008 MLS Cup final & 1998 Eastern Conference semi-finals). And although Jesse Marsch’s men are strong at home, the Crew’s direct transition caused the Red Bulls a lot of problems in the first leg, something that doesn’t bode well for their next meeting in just under a weeks time.

Portland hit Dallas with a one-two punch to take an aggregate lead.

The second game of the evening promised an abundance of excitement as two of the most promising midfielders – Mauro Diaz and Darlington Nagbe – faced off against each other in Portland.

Taking slightly longer than the first match to present a chance on goal (25 seconds to be exact), it was unsurprisingly Nagbe streaming forward with the ball. One of a number of counter-attacks instigated by the Timbers against FC Dallas, the match reaffirmed the ball carrying abilities of Nagbe as he produced just two less successful dribbles than the entire Dallas midfield.

With their counter-attacking something of a reverse given that it is Dallas are so often deadly on the break, it wasn’t the only switch of expected behaviours. In the last round against the Seattle Sounders they found success from set-plays with Walker Zimmerman netting a vital equaliser.

However by the end of the game they had conceded two of their three goals from corners as Liam Ridgewell and Nat Borchers found the net. The former Aston Villa and Birmingham City man opened the scoring with his first of the season by capitalising on some slack marking from Zach Loyd - evoking memories of the goal they conceded to Portland’s rivals Seattle in the last round.

The duo proved their value in both penalty boxes by also producing seven clearances and generally maintaining a tightness at the back. No one on the field had participated in more playoff matches than the former Real Salt Lake defender Borchers, with Caleb Porter’s decision in pre-season to seek out a no frills defender once again proving justified.

Sandwiched either side of those goals was an amazing strike by Dairon Asprilla (no relation to Faustino sadly). A moment of individual brilliance that swerved through the cold Portland air, it meant a Colombian winger was stealing the headlines, but not the one you might have predicted.

INTERVIEW: FC Dallas defender Walker Zimmerman talks to Yahoo Sport.

Instead Fabian Castillo was somewhat disappointing during Sunday’s game as he struggled to use his speed effectively against Jorge Villafaña. There had been talk recently that Mexican giants Club America were in negotiations for the tricky winger, with many expecting this to be his last season in Major League Soccer.

A disappointing result, it brings to an end a tough week for Oscar Pareja after the tragic passing of his mother. Still able to create a handful of chances thanks to star play-maker Diaz, the tricky Argentine was a threat during the evening and unsurprisingly nabbed the assist for David Texeira’s goal in the second half.

Earning FC Dallas a route back into the tie, they may look at their July meeting for inspiration. That day they won 4-1, which remains the only time in the last six meetings that Dallas have been able to record an advantage of more than one goal over the Timbers. A 2-0 result will see them through on away goals, which is achievable given that Portland failing to find the net in 6 of their 19 away games this season.

As for Porter’s men they will welcome back Diego Valeri from suspension which reunites the midfield trio of: Valeri, Nagbe and Diego Chara. A cohesive unit in the centre of the field, the second leg promises to be just as pulsating as Sunday night, with a winner nigh impossible to call.

Follow Kristan Heneage on Twitter: @KHeneage