Recent Columbus Crew who signed Wessam Abou Ali is determined to repay the fans after a warm welcome at his new club.
Abou Ali joined Wilfried Nancy of the Egyptian giants Al Ahly and made his Columbus debut as a replacement in their defeat against the Revolution of New England.
The 26-year-old played in 35 Egyptian Premier League matches in the last two seasons, scored 28 goals and registered seven assists at the time.
The striker also scored a hat trick in a 4-4 draw against Porto at the Club World Cup, where already Ahly ended on two points of soil A.
With a huge Eastern Conference collision against the New York Red Bulls Up for Columbus, Abou Ali is eager to meet his expectations.
“It feels great,” said Abou Ali after his debut. “That’s why I came to get started, start playing, to get to know my teammates.
“It has been a fast, fast week, but I am happy and I am proud to make my debut. It is clearly a nice feeling and a warm welcome from the fans.
“It was actually great. I am so grateful for the people who support the team here.
“I had a very good welcome in the warming up and every time I also started warming up on the other side during the game. I heard the roar when I also came up. It’s a big thing for me. Of course I represent myself, my family, a whole nation.
“So it gives you a reason to give something back to these people and to work really hard to make them happy and to meet those expectations.”
It’s Abou Ali O’Clock
Wessam Abou Ali made his Black & Gold debut on Saturday evening when he was immersed in the game in the 57th minute. Congratulations, Wes! pic.twitter.com/rw3yqywfququ
– The crew (@ColumbusCrew) August 26, 2025
In their last game, the Red Bulls fell on a 1-0 defeat against Charlotte FC, despite collecting 1.69 expected goals (XG) to the 0.5 of their opponents.
That result left them ninth in the east, six points and two places behind Columbus.
Players to watch
New York Red Bulls-Eric Maxim Choupo Moting
Choupo moting leads his teammates from Red Bulls for Doelen this season and finds it just 15 times so far in MLS.
He (13 goals, three assists) and Emil Forsberg (eight goals, seven assists) each have 15+ target contributions at home this season.
Only four other MLS players have more than 15 home goal contributions in 2025, with Choupo moting and Forsberg the only few teammates.
Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi
Rossi enjoys his best goal campaign for the crew, who watches 13 times in 26 ml matches.
The Uruguayan has scored or helped in four of its last six games in all competitions, which directly contributes to five goals at the time (four goals, one assist).
Match forecast – Draw
The Red Bulls are connected for both the most home goals (34) and the least road goals of each team (eight) in MLS this season. Their 80.1% of the goals scored at home would be the largest such percentage by an MLS team in a season since the Red Bulls itself in 2009 (88.9%).
Despite the fact that it is profitless in their last three games in the regular season (D1 L2), Columbus are one of the four teams this season that have not lost any successive games, together with FC Cincinnati, Inter Miami and Minnesota United. The crew has not lost back-to-back regular season matches since May 2023.
In the meantime, Columbus has won three consecutive games of the regular season against NYRB and four of the last five head-to-head meetings.
The Red Bulls hit the crew from the MLS Cup play-offs last season, however, with a 1-0 road victory and a shoot-out victory after a 2-2 home stretch.
Columbus has won two, signed one and lost three of their last six games. Nyrb has meanwhile won three and lost three of their previous six.
Opta wins probability
New York Red Bulls – 34.4%
Drawing – 25.8%
Columbus Crew – 39.7%
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