Red Bulls oust defending champions Crew in MLS Cup playoffs

The New York Red Bulls knocked reigning MLS Cup champions Columbus out of the playoffs on Sunday, beating the Crew 5-4 in a penalty shootout after the match ended 2-2.

New York won their best-of-three first-round playoff series 2-0 and will face either Cincinnati or New York City FC, whose series was knotted at 1-1 with a decisive game three coming up next Saturday.

Columbus, beaten 1-0 at home in game one, seized the lead in the 55th minute in New Jersey through Max Arfsten. 

But the Red Bulls equalized nine minutes later with a goal from Dante Vanzeir and took the lead when Emil Forsberg converted a penalty in the 80th.

Columbus striker Christian Ramirez, with a brilliant header from a corner kick, tied it at 2-2 in stoppage time to force the shootout.

Home keeper Carlos Coronel saved three straight penalties before Daniel Edelman converted the winner for the seventh-seeded Red Bulls.

For coach Wilfried Nancy's Crew, seeded second in the Eastern Conference behind Lionel Messi's Inter Miami, it was an abrupt end to a season that included a Leagues Cup title and a runner-up finish in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

The Seattle Sounders punched their ticket to the Western Conference semi-finals, beating the Houston Dynamo 7-6 on penalties after playing to a 1-1 draw.

Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei denied Houston's Tate Schmitt to decide the shootout.

The victory gave seattle a 2-0 series triumph and they await either Western Conference top seeds Los Angeles FC or eighth-seeded Vancouver Whitecaps.

Vancouver forced a game three in their series with a 3-0 home win on Sunday.

Ryan Gould opened the scoring for Vancouver in the 10th minute and a Ryan Hollingshead own-goal three minutes later had LAFC in an even deeper hole.

Another own-goal from LAFC, by Eddie Segura in the 68th, sealed Vancouver's win.

bb/pst