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Crew Record First Win Of 2009 By Beating Wizards 3-2
It may have taken eight matches, but the Columbus Crew were finally able to pick up their first win of the 2009 season on Saturday night.
May 9, 2009 10:46:30 PM
Columbus Crew 3-2 Kansas City Wizards
It has been a frustrating start to the season, but Columbus was finally able to record their first win in a hard-fought match against Kansas City.
The teams battled back and forth until the final whistle, but in the end, the Crew were just too strong and were able to out-muscle the mid-west side.
First Half
On a perfect night for soccer, the Crew came out in this match the way they have in many of their matches this season: on the offensive.
Slowly gaining momentum in the match's early stages, the Crew were in control of the ball and were dictating the play. Kansas City were reduced to packing men behind the ball to ensure the Crew’s high-powered offense didn’t get started too early.
The first chance of the game came in the 10th minute when a Guillermo Barros Schelotto corner hopped around in the box and was lofted out by a Wizards defender. The ball fell nicely to Crew fullback Gino Padula who hit it in the volley. Unfortunately for the Argentine, it sailed high over the net. If nothing else, the attempt showed the Crew’s intent in the opening portion of the match.
Columbus didn’t let up as the match got going. Emmanuel Ekpo looked threatening down the right flank the entire first half given is tricky footwork and nice ball skills. His pressure on the wings led to service in the middle, that until midway through the first half, the Crew didn’t make much of.
The first real chance of the game came in the 24th minute when strong interplay between talented youngsters Robbie Rogers and Eddie Gaven resulted in Gaven having a dangerous chance on net. Rogers carrying the ball through the middle slipped the ball to a cutting Gaven who lunged to stab the ball towards the goal. Wizards’ goalie Kevin Hartman was already charging to the ball and was able to deflect the shot wide.
Kansas City’s only significant chance of the first half came from the boot of Jack Jewsbury who had a nice free kick attempt in the 29th minute. Lining it up for just right of goal, Jewsbury went for the hard shot and put it just over the bar.
The Crew were able to get on the board just over five minutes after Jewsbury’s chance. Creative movement down the left side culminated in the ball reaching the inside of the box. The movement between the Crew players was lovely and a truly spectacular goal was almost had. Eddie Gaven wasn’t able to complete the move after the ball got stuck in his boots. Thankfully it dribbled to the edge of the six-yard box and wasn’t handled by the Wizards defense and instead was slammed home by Ekpo for the match’s first tally.
Things remained the same as the first half came to a halt. Columbus certainly had the better of the play and looked much happier going into the break.
Second Half
It didn’t take long for things to get going in the second half as only five minutes in Claudio Lopez was able to even the score.
The veteran forward lined up a free kick from the right side of the box and fired in a low-arching cross into the area. The ball eluded not only the Wizards’ attackers but the Crew defenders and goalie Andy Gruenebaum. A quick bounce later and it slipped into the net to tie the score.
Columbus didn’t wait long to answer back as only four minutes later they retook the lead. Veteran defender Frankie Hejduk took the ball outside the box and smacked a flighted cross into the area. The ball dipped brilliantly over the heads of the Kansas City backline and fell to he far post where Schelotto was waiting to pound the ball home with his head on one bounce.
The flow of the match was much more even than it was in the first half as Kansas City were buoyed by their goal and seemed much more determined to get a result from the match.
In the 76th minute the Wizards had an excellent chance to tie the match once more as the ball was played into the area and bounced to Josh Wolff on the right side. The talented striker took the ball and blasted it just wide of the target, but it was certainly close.
The last 15 minutes of the match were a slugfest between the two teams that went back and forth trying to secure the full three points.
Columbus appeared to have sealed their first win of the season following Eddie Gaven’s first goal of the season. More great play between Gaven and Rogers was how the goal was created and again it was Rogers playing the ball into Gaven with extreme precision. Left alone in the area, Gaven took the cross and slotted it in the lower corner of the Kansas City net before he could be reached by defenders.
As if they didn’t even notice the Gaven goal, Kansas came right back on the offensive and cut the lead in half thanks to a beautiful diving header by Wolff. Jack Jewsbury took the ball down the right and sent a hard cross into the box that connected with Wolff’s diving head. The feeling was returning to the Crew, a team that have had so much trouble closing out matches this season.
Thankfully, the 10 remaining minutes in the match passed with little trouble, and the Crew managed their first win of the season, albeit a somewhat nervy win.
Next up for the defending MLS Champions is a trip to Los Angeles next Sunday to take on the Galaxy as they hope to continue their march up the Eastern Conference table.
Kansas City are off to Rio Tinto Stadium next weekend as they will take on Real Salt Lake in an important inter-conference match.
Shane Evans, Goal.com
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