Columbus.-In the end the stars who decided the game were not on the field. At the 76th minute, the Ohio sky came down hard and stopped a very entertaining match where Columbus Crew SC and New York City FC scored two goals per side. According to the MLS Postponement policy if the game is abandoned in or after the 76th minute (which is the case) the result and all statistics will stand. But the game continued… after an hour and fifteen minutes of rain delay.
In a duel of identical systems (4-2-3-1), the hosts dominated the first half with anticipation, speed and execution. Every time a high caliber player lands at Mapfre Stadium Crew SC has issues with their defensive coverage. Not tonight. David Villa found himself isolated in the final third, and that was because they closed the distribution channels towards him. Columbus focused its pressure on Diskerud and Pirlo, and they forced turnovers on New York’s territory.
The pace imposed by Crew SC was high and the debut of Harrison Afful at right back had a lot to do with it. The Ghanian fit perfectly during the 60 minutes he played tonight. He joined the attack and Higuaín constantly looked for him to initiate counters and to create offensive options at the right flank.
It is a small sample, but the addition of Afful gives something that this team didn’t have in that position:
solidity.
During the week, Berhalter talked to Adam Jardy from the Columbus Dispatch and referred to the lack of variety when it comes to scoring goals. Obviously he’s not complaining about Kamara and his League-leading 18th goals but he urges more players to get involved in the final third. Another newcomer, Cedric Mabwati, listened and in his third appearance with Crew SC scored his first goal to tie a game that was starting to incline to the visitors.
The issue that still has not a clear solution is that blackout period that appears to have its favorite spot after restarts. Those ten to fifteen minutes, when they take the foot off the gas pedal, is hurting the team and cost them valuable points like tonight, like with Toronto. It’s a blank spot that for some reason doesn’t go away.
New York also is having their own problems. They will not play the comeback kid role every week like they did with DC United. Poku, once again, took ownership of his squad and almost single handed another vital win, this time on the road. But the rain got in the way and put down his fiery state of mind.
Even after Mabwati’s goal, the momentum shifted to the visitors. If it wasn’t for the rain delay, most likely we will be talking about how Crew SC let New York steal three points from Mapfre Stadium. But that was not the main focal point. “ We still adapting to Pirlo. We can’t play long balls all the time, that’s not what we do.” David Villa said, clearly referring to all those passes that were intercepted by the rivals.
The 2-2 final was a fair result; neither team was able to make a difference to came up on top. They shared episodes of dominance, they both lacked finishing instinct. Columbus gained one point. New York lost two.
