By Hilary // @hils4crew
Yes, it is the tale of two teams–one who gets outscored 5-0 against a team missing two of its starters, and then another team who wins 3-0 giving their opposition few opportunities. “Who are these two teams?” one might ask. And the answer will only surprise those who haven’t watched the team struggle for consistency over the past few seasons, Columbus Crew SC.
On Friday, Columbus Crew SC lost 5-0 to Toronto FC who was missing Giovinco and Altidore. To be honest, I wasn’t watching. I was playing a soccer game at the time, so I was following the game’s score on my phone.
As I watched a replay of the game, I didn’t find the first 30 minutes as bad as I thought they would be. Maybe I was prepared for the worst knowing the final score line already. Mensah’s foul in the 4’ that led to Vazquez’s putting away a PK was bad–it should have been a red card–and Toronto definitely had a lot of dangerous chances. However, Crew SC had some chances that they should have finished, which would have resulted in a very different match.
Instead, Toronto’s Justin Morrow streaked down the left side of the field and lasered a ball into the net, and Gregg Berhalter subbed off one of our strongest players, Justin Meram, in the 40’. Toronto followed this with a goal in the 59’ from Vazquez and two more goals when they were down a man after Marco Delgado was sent off in the 81’.
Counter this match with the match on Wednesday night against Seattle Sounders where we saw a very different Crew SC team. Justin Meram and Frederico Higuain continued their fantastic seasons starting in the 10’ when Hector Jimenez slid to get a ball, sent it to Higuain who settled and sent it to the bottom left corner of the net. Later in the 21’, Justin Meram decided to increase the lead as several Seattle defenders backpedaled as he slotted the ball into the same corner as Higuain. In the 59’, Meram sent a beautiful pass to Kamara who sent a low shot to the bottom right corner bouncing off the inside of the post careening into the back of the net.
Zack Steffen made two fantastic saves to keep Crew SC solidly in the lead. One was a diving save stopping a well-hit shot from Lodeiro in the 57’. Later, he snagged a charging Fernandez’s shot with his left hand.
Random Thoughts:
- Crew SC need to get Artur signed and off this loan. He got sick at halftime during the Seattle game and continued to play. He is a difference maker and is all over the field. He needs to be in the black and gold next season too and a few more seasons after that if he continues to play as he has.
- This team plays better with Ethan Finlay. He may not be assisting or scoring goals, but he draws defenders and makes dangerous runs.
- There were many, many times during this game that I yelled look at Raitala or Finlay. This team needs to switch the field quicker at times especially when their left back is standing there alone. Also, Finlay makes these great runs, but they either don’t send him the ball when they should or make the pass too late.
- Lots of people wanted Gregg fired after the Toronto loss. I just don’t think that will fix the problems we have. Gregg is a young coach. This season, he’s starting to make tactical changes, and he is reflective on his decisions. I continue to have faith, for now, in his direction for the team.
- The Seattle game had tons more goals in it. Kamara had a few more he could have put away.
- Having pups on the pitch night at Crew SC may have just brought the team luck. Should it be a reoccurring event? I guess it just might depend on our next home match’s result.
So, in the last week, we have seem two very different Crew SC teams. Maybe, they had to hit the low in Toronto to figure out who they are. Maybe they thought they were the only ones to defeat Toronto so far this season, so it would be easy to do it again. But, I like the team that showed up against Seattle. Let’s hope we see this team again on Saturday against Colorado Rapids.
Featured image courtesy: @ColumbusCrewSC
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