Columbus.-The night Ethan Finlay shined again, The night he scored a brace should be enough to get three points as a return of effort investment for Crew SC, but it wasn’t. Instead, they tied their sixth consecutive game at home and their winless streak reached the ten match mark. However, the clash with New York City FC, the Eastern Conference leader, left something floating in the air that it wasn’t there a week or two ago: Hope.
“Still the number seven, we’ve got games in hand and we have to start winning, but when I see an effort like tonight , when I see a performance like tonight, it makes me believe, it makes me believe that we can do it, I think that goes a long way, the guys will see it we can do it, we are a good team, we need to be more effective in some areas and will be ok” Berhalter said at the post-game press conference.
The number seven is a clear reference to the points behind the sixth place in the East, which means playoff spot. If this was the Premier League so deep in the season the idea of closing that gap would be irrational, but in the MLS as incredible as it sounds, they have a chance.
New York was against the ropes for most of the first half, but Columbus couldn’t finish their offensive attempts, they bombarded the box with crosses with a very low percentage of accuracy. A healthy Higuaín makes his team more dynamic, he got Afful and Finlay involved and made their runs alternate with different intentions that added variety. Then Pirlo executes a free kick, the defense gets distracted and Frank Lampard scores of a rebound. All that effort for nothing, they had to start not from zero, from below zero.
The most important factor to consider this game as positive was the change of tempo. Finally, you could feel the sense of urgency, they still passed the ball 471 times, but it was faster, deeper. As a result, they scored three times and none of the goals came from Ola Kamara. The “stepping up” time came from Justin Meram and Ethan Finlay. Both players are having a sub-par performances throughout the year, and after twenty-two games the wingers showed how much can they gravitate in this offense.
There is one aspect this team has to seriously consider during the final stretch of the schedule: Late minute goals. Columbus allowed thirteen goals in the last fifteen minutes of games. Tonight wasn’t different, David Villa scored in the minute 83 and 93. If they want to make their run into the playoffs, they have to solve this issue.
“It’s really important. The breakdown, specifically in the second goal , it shouldn’t happen in my eyes, the penalty can’t do much about, ball to hand but the second goal to me it should be avoided. It’s something we’re concerned about, because I know we’re stronger that we’ve been shown late in games”
Berhalter explained.
It remains uncertain if Columbus will climb above the red line on time, but there is no doubt they started
their surge tonight
