The starting XI for the Columbus Crew before Saturday’s MLS Playoff match with the New England Revolution. Photos/Columbus Crew (Nate Smallwood)
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f the Columbus Crew are going to keep their season alive, they’re going to have to do it in comeback fashion.
New England defeated the Crew, 4-2, on Saturday afternoon in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, putting the Black and Gold in a relatively deep hole.
Columbus was 8-2-1 in their last eleven matches going into the playoffs, somehow moving up all the way to the #3 seed and avoiding the mid-week play-in match. There was belief that this would be a huge boost for a team that was riding a red hot streak. The problem, though, is that one loss was to the Revolution, whose style of play seems to be kryptonite to the Crew in general.
The scoring was kicked off by New England forward Charlie Davies off of a set piece served up by Kelyn Rowe. The shot curled into the box and Davies, who found himself completely unmarked, scored off of a diving header that Crew GK Steve Clark had zero chance of saving. The half would end with that scoreline, and while the Crew hadn’t played well, it was not the end of the world.
The second half would be a nightmare for the Crew, though, as Chris Tierney blasted a free kick to make it 2-0.
Justin Meram got the Crew on the board to make it 2-1 off of a rather lucky deflection. Wil Trapp was looking for Federico Higuain, but the pass would be deflected. Meram was lucky enough to have the ball land at his feet, firing it home to cut the deficit in half. The Crew suddenly had new life, but it was short lived.
MVP candidate Lee Nguyen would make it 3-1 essentially dribbled right through the defense and slotted it home past Clark without much pressure. Forced now to send numbers forward, the fourth goal for New England would come off of a counter attack. Davies would provide the goal, and it seemed that the Crew were going up to New England with a three goal deficit to make up. Thankfully, a hand ball near the end of the match by Jose Goncalves would allow the Crew to get one back from the spot as Higuain managed to put a deft chip past Bobby Shuttlesworth to get one back.
Goalkeeper Steve Clark kicks the ball out of the Crew defensive zone. Columbus lost the contest 4-2 in the first of two matches against New England in the first leg of the MLS postseason.
So, where do we go from here?
MLS has decided to tweak playoff rules again and have included the “Away Goal” rule for this year’s playoff. This means that the Crew could technically tie up the aggregate with a 2-0 scoreline in New England, but they would be going home as the Revolution’s impressive four goal tally at Crew Stadium gives them the tiebreaker.
The Crew are going to have to do the improbable and shut out New England at home, which hasn’t happened since July 12, a 1-0 loss to Chicago and has only happened in league play three times all season.
This also means that the Crew will have to do it on arguably the worst pitch in the league, Gillette Stadium. With the NFL season in full swing, the Revolution have been forced to play on a field that is only 102 yards long (FIFA requirements for a five-star pitch are 120 yards in length and 70-80 yards wide) and only about 60 yards wide. This means a rather cramped amount of space to try and push an attack forward. This issue COULD be easily rectified, but New England Revolution owner Robert Kraft cites that he doesn’t want the field’s NFL logos for the Patriots to be touched, meaning that the field only extends one yard into each endzone.
The Crew have had good results in New England in the past, but this is a tall mountain to climb.
Kickoff for Leg #2 is set for 5PM Eastern on ESPN2.
FINAL STATS
SHOTS (ON TARGET): Columbus 14 (6), New England 18 (9)
FOULS: Columbus 17, New England 15
CORNERS: Columbus 6, New England 4
POSSESSION: Columbus 58%, New England 42%
DISCIPLINE: Columbus: Yellow Cards – Francis (70′) Anor (90’+ 1′), New England: Yellow Cards – Jose Goncalves (19′)
SAVES: Columbus 5, New England 4
