Columbus, OH.- It did not matter that Ola Kamara scored his ninth goal in nine games. The red card for Harrison Afful change the course of the night? No, Columbus actually created more chances playing a man down. A late night goal to blame on the defense? No, isolated play and Espíndola executed it with class. The real issue here is that this team can’t go the entire first half of a match with zero shots on goal.
The slow starts are killing any intention of turning around the season. Gregg Berhalter tried a 4-3-3 formation with Cedrick Mabwatti on the pitch instead of Ethan Finlay. The idea was clear: to speed up the pace. But for the first forty-five minutes they couldn’t shift gears, nor to do any damage to Bill Hamid. DC United did a great job surrounding Kamara in the box, at times he had six players on him that left him with no room to operate.
Despite all the personnel that Ben Olsen designated to contain Kamara, It was Crew SC lack of offensive ambition. Not that they don’t want to win, of course, they do. Is the way they approach the goal. When their number nine makes his runs, he is so far away from Mabwatii, Finlay or Meram that their front court turns into a one man show, that is easier to stop than a trident or an attacking duo.
It remains uncertain why Columbus needs so much time to warm up. They came up from the break almost on fire, creating two consecutive offensive plays in less than five minutes. The ball rotated quicker and they obtained the lead at the 63rd minute when they reached the box with three passes. The concern was: Will hey be able to hold it this time? They did it for twenty-five minutes, twelve of them with a man down (Afful received a red card in the 73rd minute), then Espíndola scored his first goal since April 9th and the winless streak remained intact.
There are two ways to frustrate the Columbus Crew SC: The first one is to sit back with a double line of four, stay compact and wait for a deadly counterattack. The second option is to put pressure high up, denying their channels of distribution from the back. Tonight DC applied both. They let them have the ball during the first half, and when the became more aggressive Saborio and Acosta harassed Will Trapp and Parkhurst, forcing Steve Clark to play the ball wide.
Its’ been six hundred and thirty minutes since the last time Steve Clark went to the Nordecke to do his victory chant: YES! YES! YES! They were ready to do it, they thought tonight was the night. But they left in silence because they also don’t have an answer.
Columbus Crew
DC United
