Columbus Crew SC may have pulled off a season-defining victory at MAPFRE Stadium Saturday night.
After going down a goal twice over the course of the game, the Black and Gold notched two goals in the final ten minutes, including the game-winner from recent acquisition Jack McInerney, to escape with an improbable 3-2 victory over Sporting Kansas City. The result snaps a six-game winless skid against the 2013 MLS Cup Champions and marks the first win for Crew SC in the series since a 2-1 road triumph on July 28th, 2012.
Head coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter praised the team’s poise and grit over the course of the game, especially after giving up the second goal.
“It kind of shook us a little bit,” Berhalter noted in reference to giving up the second SKC goal. “But, you know, the attitude, the spirit was there from the beginning, or at least after the first five minutes. We were in the game. We were aggressive, we were putting together a solid game.”
Columbus Crew SC Complete Captivating Comeback Against Sporting KC
Sporting Kansas City’s Marcel de Jong notched his first goal of the season in the 14th minute after a Crew SC defensive breakdown enabled rookie Saad Abdul Salaam to send in a pass from the right that he was able to deftly put past goalkeeper Steve Clark.
The home side would then answer with perhaps one of the most scintillating sequences of the season 21 minutes later. New acquisition Harrison Afful laced in a cross that Federico Higuain connected on with explosive power from beyond the 18, only to have the ball rattle off the cross bar. Kei Kamara would settle it, feed it to Ethan Finlay who was able to chest it into the net for the equalizer. The teams would be knotted 1-1 at the break.
The Black and Gold came out with renewed purpose to find the go-ahead goal in the second half. The team continually high pressed SKC and controlled possession for pretty much the entire game as reflected in their nearly 68 percent possession overall. However, in the 62nd minute, the visitors would spring the counter and take a 2-1 lead via a Graham Zusi curler from just inside the 18 that beat Clark far post.
Nevertheless, bolstered by a sellout crowd (the third of the season) and ever-boisterous Nordecke, Crew SC continued to fight on, dominate possession, and looked to break Sporting’s resolute back four. There was perhaps no better evidence of the home side’s ability to keep the ball at their own feet while disrupting their opponents ability to do so themselves than the passing numbers. The Black and Gold completed over 250 more passes than SKC and had an 80-57 edge in passing accuracy percentage.
The first breakthrough would come in the 80th minute.
A Mikey Lopez foul on left back Waylon Francis gave Crew SC a free kick about 25 yards from goal. Higuain would send it into the box where center back Tyson Wahl glanced it off his head towards the far post. It was from there that an onrushing Tony Tchani would put it in the back of the net for his fifth on the year. To put that in perspective, in his previous seven seasons in the league, Tchani had scored four goals total.
Eight minutes later, the culmination of all the fortitude associated with being able to stay in the game, not giving up after going down on two separate occasions and mentally dialing in to get the desired result paid off.
The above mentioned McInerney, who had come on as a second half sub in the 64th minute to replace left-winger Justin Meram, would show off his acumen as a dyed in the wool goal poaching kind of scorer. A well-placed direct ball from Michael Parkhurst would find Higuain in stride, who full-volleyed it towards Melia forcing a save. The rebound would come straight to the 23-year-old Chattanooga, TN native who gently touched it into the goal for the eventual game-winner.
Parkhurst, the team captain, emphasized afterwards the importance of grinding out a win in this fashion.
“It’s tough to give up a goal like that,” Parkhurst said on Zusi’s tally. “(It was a) fantastic finish but it’s a good fight, good mentality from the team to keep pushing. Jack came in and made a big difference for us.”
For Berhalter, this was a team win in every sense of the word. The fact they got such a significant contribution from the bench in McInerney’s late goal is testament to this.
“Part of the message to the guys in the locker room is ‘we’re in this together,'” he said. “It’s everyone and we need contributions from everyone and, you know, it’s not easy to get into the 18, it’s not easy to get into the starting 11 but their job is to just keep going and they’ve been doing a fantastic job of that.”
The win pulls Crew SC to within one point of the idle New York Red Bulls for second place in the Eastern Conference standings, though it should be noted the latter have three games in hand on the Black and Gold. The result also caps off four points out of six for the club over the course of a two-match home span this week after a 2-2 draw in their first-ever match with New York City FC on Wednesday.
Crew SC face that same NYCFC side on the road in their next match which marks their inaugural trip to famed Yankee Stadium.
Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
