At this point, you know how Columbus Crew are going to play soccer: Expansive, possession-based, and finishing with bodies in the box. And that’s exactly what Gregg Berhalter’s men did to earn a win last weekend over Colorado Rapids.
Columbus 2-1 Colorado
Only allowing two goals flatters the Rapids. Pedro Santos and Federico Higuain missed sitters, a Josh Williams header was cleared off the line, and overall the Crew had five (!!!) shots from the central area of the box. That is a not good number for a defense.
The big key to Columbus’ success was their ability to advance the ball on the dribble with their wingers and to create 2v1s by overlapping the fullbacks. So yeah, Crew doing Crew things. Justin Meram and Pedro Santos are both excellent in tight spaces, and with Colorado leaving gaps in front of their defensive line, it was all too easy to penetrate down the wings then put the ball in front.
On Columbus’ opener, the ball was simply played across from the left into the space just atop the box. This pass should be cut out approximately one million percent of the time; it was not. Higuain dinked a brilliant first time ball behind the defensive line and Gyasi Zardes walked onto it and slapped it past a stranded Tim Howard.
Colorado responded through Shkelzen Gashi. The Swiss striker rifled a free kick past Zack Steffen while the goalie was still setting up his wall.
The Crew’s second came after they again got behind Colorado up the left. This time it was Higuain trailing the play to finish the ball into an empty net after Howard and the rest of the Rapids defense was pulled out of the middle.
The rest of the match was largely dominated by the home side, and the Crew were unlucky to not add more to their goal tally. The Union will be wary of how fluid Columbus looked going forward and will hope to tamp out that rhythm by holding the ball themselves.
Last matchup: Crew vs Union
When these teams faced off in Columbus in early May, the Crew scored a 1-0 victory but had most of the best chances. Philly’s front three has entirely changed since that match and the Union will hope to generate more big chances when they return to MAPFRE Stadium this Saturday.
Columbus scored after Milton Valenzuela held the ball inbounds following Andre Blake’s leap to push it away from goal. Valenzuela got the ball back across the box to Zardes who had the simplest time tapping home the finish.
The Crew created a number of good looks but rarely put their efforts on frame. When they did, Blake was often on-hand to corral the shots as Philly pushed for an equalizer. The best chances for the visitors came in the final 10 minutes when Borek Dockal lasered a half-volley on goal from outside the box and CJ Sapong tested Steffen from close range.
This is a far different Union team from that side, and it will be intriguing to see them face down Columbus now that they have shown a more consistent ability to impose their style on opponents. The Crew have been up and down lately, both knocking off solid teams and drawing matches they might be expected to win. There are a lot of question marks going into this one, but there is even more at stake.
Get ready for a huge Eastern Conference showdown as the Union, 0-1-1 against the Crew this season, look for a win that can propel them into fourth place.
