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Fire Peg Two Late Goals To Keep Crew Winless
It was another frustrating night for the Columbus Crew as their foes in last year's Eastern Conference Final came into town and snatched a late point from the home side.
Apr 25, 2009 10:24:56 PM
Coming into the match winless, but still in the mix in the Eastern Conference, the Columbus Crew nearly got off the snide against an always competitive Chicago Fire side. Unfortunately for the defending champions, Chicago left the heroics until late and were able to keep the Crew out of the win column.
First Half
The game opened up in a way you’d expect from two fierce rivals like this, in a very wide-open exciting style. The ball was up and down the pitch for the first five to 10 minutes in pretty rapid succession.
Columbus were the first team to get a chance on net as in the 9th minute, a headed ball bounced to Fire defender Wilman Conde who was outmuscled by a smaller Guillermo Barros Schelotto who took it on the hop and volleyed it on net. It took a gifted save by Jon Busch to deny Conde’s blushes who gave the ball away cheaply inside the area.
It didn’t take long for the Crew to see their second chance go just by the wayside, but this time it was the Fire’s Logan Pause who almost gifted the defending MLS Champions with the opening goal.
Schelotto took the ball on the left and tried to play a hard cross through to Alejandro Moreno. His service was a bit flat and Pause attempted to head the ball back to Busch. Unfortunately for Pause, he got a bit too much on it and it eluded Busch and bounced off the outside of the goalpost, and dribbled wide.
Winless so far this season, the Crew looked determined to change that in the early-going as they had the visiting Fire planted firmly on their heels. They spread the ball around and looked dangerous doing so. Chances were had by Emmanuel Ekpo and rookie Eric Brunner, but the score remained level.
Twenty-five minutes into the first half was when the Crew were finally able to open up the Fire’s defense. A deep free kick was whipped in by Schelotto and met the head of towering defender Chad Marshall who had wriggled his way around a defender and placed the ball confidently in the net at the far post. Jon Busch attempted to turn the ball wide, but was no match for it’s power.
The first real chance of the half for the Fire came from the foot of Patrick Nyarko.
The young Ghanian took the ball down the right flank and was able to cut inside the Crew defender at the touchline and put a shot on Crew keeper Andy Gruenebaum who neatly saved it.
Things stayed at 1-0 until the 35th minute when Alejandro Moreno exhibited one of the best individual performances of the season so far. The Venezuelan chased down a over-cooked ball that appeared to be heading in to Jon Busch along the edge of the box. Busch slightly mis-played it and Moreno was able to tap it him and head to an open net. A tricky feint around makeshift keeper Wilman Conde later and the Crew were up 2-0.
The first half ended with a 2-0 score and the Crew looked to be fully in charge of the match.
Second Half
As the second stanza opened, it was largely a dull affair. Both teams seemed fine with the score of the match and it could have conceivably ended at that point. The early portion of the half had no real chances, though Chicago began to dictate possession of the ball.
The game really began to turn in the 50th minute and on when the sides seemed to get aggressive out of nowhere. A few sloppy fouls were conceded by either side and were culminated by a straight red card to Gino Padula in the 57th minute.
From that point on, Chicago seemed to take control of the match given their advantage in numbers. They traded minor chances with the crew until they decided it was time to bust out the late match heroics.
The 86th minute rolled around and arguably Chicago’s most threatening player, Patrick Nyarko found himself on the ball down the left. Playing a neat ball into the middle, Brian McBride latched onto it in front of Chad Marshall and snapped a well place header home to cut the deficit in half.
They weren’t done there as only two minutes later, a scramble at the edge of the box saw the ball be nudged along the turf to Gonzalo Segares directly in front of the goal. Without hesitation he blasted the ball with his left foot and it curled away from Gruenebaum, a goal which tied the score and kept Columbus in the winless column.
The match was a crushing blow to the Crew who have yet to record their first win under new head coach Robert Warzycha. They take on Toronto next weekend in the second half of the Trillium Cup.
As for the Fire, they are back home to face the upstart Sounders this coming Saturday.
Shane Evans, Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer go to Goal.com's MLS page
First Half
The game opened up in a way you’d expect from two fierce rivals like this, in a very wide-open exciting style. The ball was up and down the pitch for the first five to 10 minutes in pretty rapid succession.
Columbus were the first team to get a chance on net as in the 9th minute, a headed ball bounced to Fire defender Wilman Conde who was outmuscled by a smaller Guillermo Barros Schelotto who took it on the hop and volleyed it on net. It took a gifted save by Jon Busch to deny Conde’s blushes who gave the ball away cheaply inside the area.
It didn’t take long for the Crew to see their second chance go just by the wayside, but this time it was the Fire’s Logan Pause who almost gifted the defending MLS Champions with the opening goal.
Schelotto took the ball on the left and tried to play a hard cross through to Alejandro Moreno. His service was a bit flat and Pause attempted to head the ball back to Busch. Unfortunately for Pause, he got a bit too much on it and it eluded Busch and bounced off the outside of the goalpost, and dribbled wide.
Winless so far this season, the Crew looked determined to change that in the early-going as they had the visiting Fire planted firmly on their heels. They spread the ball around and looked dangerous doing so. Chances were had by Emmanuel Ekpo and rookie Eric Brunner, but the score remained level.
Twenty-five minutes into the first half was when the Crew were finally able to open up the Fire’s defense. A deep free kick was whipped in by Schelotto and met the head of towering defender Chad Marshall who had wriggled his way around a defender and placed the ball confidently in the net at the far post. Jon Busch attempted to turn the ball wide, but was no match for it’s power.
The first real chance of the half for the Fire came from the foot of Patrick Nyarko.
The young Ghanian took the ball down the right flank and was able to cut inside the Crew defender at the touchline and put a shot on Crew keeper Andy Gruenebaum who neatly saved it.
Things stayed at 1-0 until the 35th minute when Alejandro Moreno exhibited one of the best individual performances of the season so far. The Venezuelan chased down a over-cooked ball that appeared to be heading in to Jon Busch along the edge of the box. Busch slightly mis-played it and Moreno was able to tap it him and head to an open net. A tricky feint around makeshift keeper Wilman Conde later and the Crew were up 2-0.
The first half ended with a 2-0 score and the Crew looked to be fully in charge of the match.
Second Half
As the second stanza opened, it was largely a dull affair. Both teams seemed fine with the score of the match and it could have conceivably ended at that point. The early portion of the half had no real chances, though Chicago began to dictate possession of the ball.
The game really began to turn in the 50th minute and on when the sides seemed to get aggressive out of nowhere. A few sloppy fouls were conceded by either side and were culminated by a straight red card to Gino Padula in the 57th minute.
From that point on, Chicago seemed to take control of the match given their advantage in numbers. They traded minor chances with the crew until they decided it was time to bust out the late match heroics.
The 86th minute rolled around and arguably Chicago’s most threatening player, Patrick Nyarko found himself on the ball down the left. Playing a neat ball into the middle, Brian McBride latched onto it in front of Chad Marshall and snapped a well place header home to cut the deficit in half.
They weren’t done there as only two minutes later, a scramble at the edge of the box saw the ball be nudged along the turf to Gonzalo Segares directly in front of the goal. Without hesitation he blasted the ball with his left foot and it curled away from Gruenebaum, a goal which tied the score and kept Columbus in the winless column.
The match was a crushing blow to the Crew who have yet to record their first win under new head coach Robert Warzycha. They take on Toronto next weekend in the second half of the Trillium Cup.
As for the Fire, they are back home to face the upstart Sounders this coming Saturday.
Shane Evans, Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer go to Goal.com's MLS page
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