Columbus.-And the drought is finally over. After forty-six everlong days, The Crew SC tasted victory again, at home again. Thanks to another brace from, the League’s top scorer, Kei Kamara, and to a ball rotation that didn’t go through Higuaín as much as they used to. The three points stayed at Columbus, and New England walked out with its second consecutive loss.
35 seconds into the game and the host were down 0-1. Mohammed Saeid lost the ball and Lee Nguyen ran freely. No one pressured him, and he silenced Mapfre stadium so early that people were still trying to find a seat. That malicious pattern of not being able to recover when the rival score first seemed to take over one more time to extend the winless streak to seven games, but it didn’t happen. Why?
“We talked it before the game, about managing the game. No matter what happens: we go down a goal. We go up a goal, stays tied. Manage the game. And I think after that happen ( New England’s goal) didn’t really affect us. Obviously affected the scoreline but the guys kept going, kept playing and it seemed to settle nicely.” explained Gregg Berhalter at the post-game press conference.
It also helps a little bit to have the top scorer in the League. Kamara scored his 11h and 12th goals of the season and with a 0.75 goals per game he is on pace to reach 25 in his comeback to the MLS. The Sierra Leone native does it not with force but with grace and at times looks effortlessly. Like most true nines do, it’s all about the positioning that makes it look like the ball always find them in the right place at the right time. A year ago Kamara was trying to find himself in the game, looking for a place to play. Today the game, the goals and him are happily living together.
The ball, that precious treasure of the beautiful game, it has been treated right by Crew SC, but sometimes she wants to go out and have fun, not staying at home and watch tv. Tonight Columbus had fun with the ball. More players had more touches, especially Meram and Finlay. Instead of running the Higuaín route they opened the field, expanded the width of options at front and bombarded New England with 36 open play crosses.
Berhalter chose to talk about the weak spot of his team for the technical staff meeting. For small periods of time, the Revolution put pressure high up that suffocated Crew SC and forced them to commits turnovers, a recipe that made them often pay in the previous games. Something to think about for the next game. Tonight let them celebrate.
