Michael Azira and Wil Trapp play a position on the soccer pitch that doesn’t get a lot of love.
It’s the goal-scorers who tend to get all the glory. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise considering their contributions most prominently feature on the scoreboard. But so much goes into how the ball finds the back of the net. And the role that Azira and Trapp play on the field plays a huge part.
Their skill sets were on full display Saturday night during a 1-1 draw between Columbus Crew SC and the Colorado Rapids. The visitors came into MAPFRE Stadium owning the league’s best record. And the point they were able to obtain means it will stay that way after this week’s MLS play concludes.
Crew SC opened up the scoring in the 23rd minute off a Cedrick Mabwati goal. The DR Congo winger was making his first start of the season. And it was Trapp who initiated the buildup to the score with a well-weighted diagonal ball to left back Corey Ashe. Ashe would flick it through to Mabwati who had his initial shot blocked. But the ball came right to Harrison Afful’s feet. He was able to evade Luis Solingac’s challenge, pass it back to Mabwati who buried it past Rapids goalkeeper Zac MacMath.
Columbus would take a 1-0 lead into the locker room. But ten minutes into the second half, the Rapids equalized. Crew SC has been vulnerable to set pieces all season. And Colorado took full advantage. Shkelzen Gashi, an off-season acquisition for the club, laced in a corner kick that striker Kevin Doyle was able to head past goalkeeper Steve Clark.
It appeared that Ola Kamara, making his first regular season start in place of the now departed Kei Kamara, was responsible for marking Doyle. That latter Kamara’s ability in the air on both sides of the field is fairly unrivaled in this league. And, in certain respects, it was sorely missed on Doyle’s game-tying tally.
Captain Michael Parkhurst, who suffered a separated shoulder in the first half but toughed it out for the remainder of the game, highlighted this continued challenge the club will have to overcome.
“It’s a case where we all have to play a little bit bigger,” Parkhurst told Last Word on Sports. “There’s no doubt about it.”
Crew SC head coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter said that Colorado came into this game intent on disrupting much of what they wanted to do in the final third. And it’s testament to what Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni has done in turning this team into a contender this year.
“Pablo’s done a fantastic job with this group,” Berhalter told Shawn Mitchell of the Columbus Dispatch. “Just to see that. You know, they came here and they competed. They didn’t give up at all. And give them a lot of credit. They made it extremely difficult for us. They broke our rhythm time and time again. Anytime we got into a rhythm, they’d press or they’d foul. They broke (our rhythm) up pretty well.”
That tended to force Crew SC to sit deep at times. Known for their possession oriented style, the club had just over 42 percent possession in the first half. Berhalter explained the rationale for going against the grain of their preferred style of play early on.
“They brought six guys back in buildup and left four guys high,” Berhalter said. “Then you have a decision. You can either commit your numbers forward to be able to press them. Or you can sit back and reorganize defense and let them pass the ball in their own half. And we chose the latter.”
Michael Azira, Wil Trapp Hard at Work in Rapids-Crew SC Draw
But getting back to Azira and Trapp, their influence on the game was hugely important. In Azira’s case, Mastroeni was heavily complimentary what he’s done for the Rapids this year as a holding midfielder able to protect the back four and win possession.
“I can’t imagine how many balls he nicked tonight,” Mastroeni stated. “How many plays he broke up, how many balls he broke the lines with his passing, how many clearances he had on set pieces. The guy does invaluable work that can’t be replaced.”
And with respect to Trapp, being able to deal with Jermaine Jones in the playmaking role Mastroeni has cast him in this season was a challenge in and of itself. And it showed in his defensive work rate Saturday. Trapp had three tackles and ten interceptions which accounted for 31.7% of Crew SC’s team total.
The Black and Gold homegrown discussed how what the Rapids did on the field precipitated a lot out of him.
“They like to play long balls and look for second balls,” Trapp said. “So that is always going to be a little more difficult on the midfielders. As the ball comes over, turning and trying to locate where the attacking mid is and running off them (is a challenge). But like I said, I think Mo (Saeid) and I did a fairly good job quieting that down.”
Crew SC’s next fixture takes place on the road next Saturday. The Black and Gold travels to BMO Field north of the border to take on Trillium Cup rival Toronto FC for the first time this season.
Photo courtesy of Columbus Crew SC Communications.
