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Columbus Crew officially clinch MLS Cup playoff spot with help from New York City FC
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- Columbus Crew officially clinch MLS Cup playoff spot with help from New York City FC
The Crew have officially clinched a spot in the 2025 MLS Cup playoffs following the New York Red Bulls ' 3-2 loss to New York City FC .
Ahead of the start of games on Sept. 27, the Crew needed either a victory over the Chicago Fire or a Red Bulls' loss to secure a postseason berth.
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With the Red Bulls kicking off an hour earlier, the Crew officially clinched during the second half of their road game. The Crew eventually fell to Chicago 2-0 on the road.
Max Arfsten (at right) and the Crew secured a spot in the playoffs on Sept. 27.
Going into their matchup with Chicago, the Crew (13-7-11, 50 points) were ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference and held a seven-point lead over the 10th-ranked (12-12-7, 43 points) Red Bulls.
The Crew's and Red Bulls' standing remained the same, but the seven-point gap became too large for the Red Bulls to overcome. Both teams have just two games remaining in the regular season, including a season finale against each other.
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If the season ended on Sept. 27, the Crew would host the Eastern Conference play-in game against Chicago before the first round. The winner of the play-in advances to a best-of-three series with the top team in the conference.
This marks the Crew's third consecutive trip to the playoffs under coach Wilfried Nancy, who took over in 2023.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew secure MLS Cup playoff spot following NY Red Bulls loss
