Columbus Crew SC needed a good week in order to keep pace with the rest of the Eastern Conference frontrunners, and that’s exactly what they were able to pull off.
After going on the road Wednesday and defeating the Chicago Fire to notch their first win away from home this season, the Black and Gold renewed pleasantries with their Midwest rivals on Sunday in a nationally televised match at MAPFRE Stadium. When all was set and done, Crew SC came out victorious once more in emphatic 3-1 fashion. In so doing, they finish the season series with the Fire unbeaten with the two having drawn 2-2 on May 22nd.
Columbus Crew SC Win Back-to-Back Against Chicago Fire
The six points on the week are huge, especially considering that the current leader in the Eastern Conference standings, D.C. United, fell 2-1 to FC Dallas Saturday night. Not only do Crew SC find themselves second in the East, but a deficit to D.C. that was 11 points before Wednesday’s game is now a mere five.
After the game, head coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter emphasized the importance of the team’s mental toughness in terms of being able to come away with maximum points, especially during Sunday’s game.
“What I’d say is that this game I think the players did extremely well mentally to get over the hump and get a result,” Berhalter said.
The game began in rather spectacular fashion.
No more than 12 seconds in, midfielder Ethan Finlay was running towards a well-placed header by forward Kei Kamara off a long ball provided by defensive midfielder Wil Trapp. Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson clipped Finlay as they were both going for the ball, resulting in the referee pointing to the spot.
Midfielder Federico Higuain would convert the penalty, incidentally the fastest PK in MLS history, to give Crew SC an extremely early lead.
“It was a great start for us,” Finlay said in his post-game comments. “It was actually a play we had set up to run in Chicago and we did not even talk about it before this game.”
Chicago would equalize no more than seven minutes later. After drawing a foul just outside the penalty area, Fire midfielder David Accam would score off the ensuing free kick. His effort drew a deflection off the Crew SC wall and sent goalkeeper Steve Clark the wrong way.
In keeping with the above theme of being strong mentally, Crew SC would respond. Eight minutes after the Fire goal, Black and Gold left back Waylon Francis would show his quality as a high-energy full-back able to make runs down the flank and create chances. A beautifully flung cross from the left would find Kei Kamara who used his head in typical Kamara fashion to bury it in the back of the net for his league-leading 14th score of the year.
The 30-year-old striker laughed about how in many ways the goal was almost like a basketball alley-oop afterwards.
“I know when they look up and make eye contact with them it’s the same thing in basketball I guess. You make eye contact, throw the ball up and then you go for it,” Kamara noted.
The Black and Gold would go up a man early in the second half when the Fire’s Jason Johnson, having already been cautioned earlier, was adjudged by the referee to have taken a dive in the box and incurred a second yellow. Already a good possession-oriented team at even strength, the home team flexed their muscle even more in this stat, enjoying 67 percent possession after Johnson was sent off.
The big breakthrough in this game was Crew SC not merely sitting on a 2-1 lead but instead showcasing some assertiveness in going for an insurance goal. That tally would come late in the second half from Finlay himself.
Kamara got the buildup play started with a diagonal ball out towards right back Chad Barson who had entered the game as a 72nd minute sub for Chris Klute. The third-year Homegrown player centered it past a few Fire defenders and found Finlay far post who finished for his sixth goal of the year.
The assist was Barson’s first since his rookie season in 2013.
Again, for Berhalter the key to this game was making strides mentally, both in terms of not being complacent with the man advantage and putting the game out of reach down the stretch.
“That, again, was a mental test for us, you know, to spread out, move the ball around, make them chase the ball, make the simple pass, control the ball, pass it to the next guy,” he explained in terms of playing patient while protecting the lead while also going for the decisive third goal.
The next opportunity for the Black and Gold to add to their two-game winning streak comes on Saturday, July 25th at home in another rivalry match-up with Toronto FC.
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