A frantic finish in Columbus ended up benefiting the home team on Saturday night.
Buoyed by a “late as late can be” Ola Kamara goal, Columbus Crew SC escaped with a 1-1 tie against the New York Red Bulls. The ending to the game salvaged some semblance of a result for the Black and Gold moments before it seemed a disappointing loss was likely.
Kamara’s stoppage time heroics epitomized a persistence and never say die attitude. The Crew SC striker trusted the process that nearly netted him a goal in the 78th minute. Head coach Gregg Berhalter praised that mentality in his center forward after the game.
“I think he could’ve had a couple goals today,” Berhalter told Last Word On Sports. “His movement’s excellent (and) he doesn’t give up. He keeps fighting.”
The equalizer had to have felt disappointing for a Red Bulls team that surrendered a late goal for the second consecutive game. Against Real Salt Lake on Wednesday, it came in the 87th minute via Jordan Allen. And it ended up costing them what would’ve been a valuable road point.
RBNY head coach Jesse Marsch expressed his frustration at the team’s inability to protect results late in games afterwards.
“Instead of walking away from this road trip and having two great performances that lead to four points, we walk away with one,” Marsch told MLSSoccer.com. “With that being said, we didn’t play well enough.”
A 52nd minute goal from Bradley Wright-Phillips appeared to be enough until Kamara’s late strike. The prolific striker was able to head in an Alex Muyl cross that came via counterattack. It was his ninth tally of the season which puts him tied for second in MLS.
Though it appeared the Red Bulls were sitting deep to start the second half, Marsch said it was more of a function of Crew SC’s movements more than anything.
“We were going after them, but they were good at breaking us down at certain moments,” Marsch said. “And then, obviously, we’re good on the counter. So if we can pick off balls in good places we can be good.”
When all was set and done, however, the night would indelibly belong to Kamara. His ability to continue to fight for a goal all game was on full display. And it was highlighted by the fact he had five total shots, two of which were on target. Both totals led all players from both teams.
Kamara believes his off-the-ball movement is a key element to his success. And it was that aspect of his game that really paid off in finding 71st minute sub Waylon Francis‘ cross for the equalizer. It was Francis’ second assist of the year after coming off the bench.
The Norwegian target man discussed this aspect of his game in tandem with the way he likes to finish after the game.
“If you see the goals, it’s mostly one-touch goals,” Kamara told the Massive Report. “The movement before, being in the box, that’s important for me.”
For the Black and Gold to be able to give a sold out crowd of 20,389 such late game fireworks made the post-game festivities even sweeter. The club was celebrating Independence Day early since their next home game isn’t until July 13th against Toronto FC. And for Kamara, that was huge.
“The energy was unbelievable,” Kamara told the Columbus Dispatch. “We were lucky the supporters came out like this. We felt them behind us the whole way.”
Despite the fact Crew SC has gone winless in seven of their last eight, the way they fought for the point late has to be good for the team’s confidence. That tenacity and grit to claw for a result and inevitably get it could be beneficial for Kamara and the team going forward.
“I think us showing that character in the second half, coming back like that, gives us confidence that we can come back and maybe next time win and get the three points,” Kamara emphasized.
Crew SC’s next competitive contest is a US Open Cup Round of 16 tie with the Chicago Fire on Tuesday. The club returns to MLS action next Sunday as they face Sporting Kansas City on the road. The game kicks off at 7 PM ET and will be nationally televised on Fox Sports 1.
Photo courtesy of Columbus Crew SC Communications.
