The stop-start season continued for RSL as they dropped two points at home against Colombus Crew at Rio Tinto stadium. Olmes Garcia and Sebastian Jaime gave RSL the lead twice during the game, but Tony Tchani and Ethan Finlay pulled it level for the away side on either occasion.
RSL started the game with fast tempo – pressing high up the pitch, and should’ve been ahead within the first five minutes. First-time starter Phanuel Kavita found himself at the end of a beautiful curler from a Mulholland set-piece, but failed to convert from close-range. Sebastian Jaime also had a chance blocked in the opening minutes.
Eventually though, RSL did find themselves ahead in the 36th minute, when Joao Plata got himself behind the Crew defense following a set-piece situation. The forward’s headed assist found Olmes Garcia at the far post, who made no mistake.
The set-play, which came to be known as the “Annexation of Puerto Rico”, was a wonderfully-crafted team goal that was straight out of the training sessions. It was significant, too, that RSL were winning free-kicks in the Colombus third, and were threatening with their dead-ball plays in the opposition box, before getting just rewards for their inventiveness.
However, Crew got back into the game as soon as the 42nd minute. Ethan Finlay found himself in space down the right flank, and his low-cross found Tony Tchani in the RSL box. The Crew midfielder barely allowed RSL defense to close him down before shooting from just inside the box.
The goal was a glimpse of the manner in which Colombus Crew exploited RSL’s left back position throughout the game. Finlay had been making penetrating runs and testing RSL’s defensive line from just a position outside RSL full-back Abdoullie Mansally. This time he was afforded time and space to pick out Tchani’s well-timed run.
Earlier in the day, Coach Jeff Cassar, who has recently seen his back-line depleted by injuries and suspensions, drafted in Phanuel Kavita in central defense for his first MLS start. Real Salt Lake were also without their playmaker Javier Morales, who was serving a one-match suspension after receiving a red card against New York Red Bulls – a game RSL lost on the road after going down to nine men.
The second-half started even more frantically than the first – and RSL took the lead immediately after the re-start. Sebastian Jaime got at the end of a what looked like an innocuous, hopeful ball from defense, and pick-pocketed Crew defender Emanuel Pogatetz before toe-poking the ball past a hapless Colombus keeper.
The lack of communication and decisiveness between keeper Steve Clark and Pogatetz was partly to blame, but Jaime was justly rewarded for his pace and perseverance. This was the Argentine’s best game in an RSL shirt, and he combined his pace and physical prowess with good positional intelligence to interchange effectively with Plata and Garcia.
Indeed, in Jaime, Plata and Garcia, coach Cassar might have stumbled upon RSL’s most dynamic front-line. Olmes Garcia, who too had endured a lean spell but had been coming to form recently, was confidently running at defenders with the ball or making off-the-ball movements on the last defender. Occasionally, though, Cassar might want one of his forwards to drop deeper and provide his midfielders with another passing option.
At this point, Crew were finding it difficult to cope with the tempo that RSL had set, and Luis Gil had the opportunity to seal the game in the 55th minute after Joao Plata had found him in the box. Gil was unmarked in the box, but his shot was blocked in the box.
RSL were unable to stretch the lead, though, and once again against the run of play, Crew pulled level in the 63rd minute. A CLB counter-attack found Federico Higuain down RSL’s left, whose assist found an unmarked Finaly in the box. The Crew winger finished neatly from close range.
This was another case of poor positioning from Mansally – caught too narrow and too high up the pitch. His error pulled the center-backs out of shape, and in the end there was little pressure on Finlay as he ghosted in at the back post.
The night got worse for the home side when substitute Jordan Allen was correctly sent-off for a reckless two-footed lunge on Tony Tchani. Boyd Okwuonu slotted in as the third RSL left-back of the night – a positional vulnerability that gave Jeff Cassar headaches throughout the game.
In the end, though, RSL held on as Colombus forced the home side deeper with a man advantage. Nonetheless, this was surely two points dropped than one gained – in another game where RSL failed to make the momentum count at home.
