Columbus Crew vs. New England Revolution: Match Report

By: James | September 17th, 2008

Crew 4, Revs 0
Schelotto(unassisted) 40, Iro(Schelotto) 45, Garey(Schelotto) 67, Garey(Noonan) 90

This was the Revolution’s second 4-0 pasting in one week, having lost to Trinidad’s Joe Public in CONCACAF Champions’ League play on Tuesday. New England was missing several starters and fielded a makeshift side. Still, New England’s weakness shouldn’t take away from the beauty and intensity of the football Columbus played that night.

Alejandro Moreno and Frankie Hejduk were away for international play. Sigi played Lenhart in for Moreno and covered for Hejduk by moving Danny O’Rourke to the right with Andy Iro joining Chad Marshall in central defense.

The Crew looked sharp from the start, out-shooting New England 27 -13. The first shot came in the third minute from Gino Padula. The first shot on goal came in the seventh minute from Steven Lenhart. In all shots came from Padula, Lenhart, Schelotto, Marshall, Evans, Carroll, Gaven, Rogers, Iro, and Garey. Thirteen of those were on goal. Four of them went in.

Ekpo and Rogers each took a corner kick, Rogers’ try was even when Guillermo was on the pitch. Evans looked strong and helped Carroll lock up the midfield. Lenhart seems to earn his starts over Garey by being a large, agressive presence that can trouble and even unnerve defenders. He has good skills but also is part of a bit of a head game, I think.

Garey scored a brace after he replaced Lenhart in the 66th minute, and seems to score on blind faith. Sirk’s Notebook revealed that Garey just makes runs with the belief that Schelotto or Noonan will find him headed for the goal. He’s made three this season with that method, which shows just how tuned in this team is to one another.

Eddie Gaven and Robbie Rogers performed well on the wings. Ekpo was effective off the bench and back from the Olympics. Iro stepped up. O’Rourke was as solid as he’s been for 3 weeks. Hesmer was untroubled.

The team looked like a powerhouse and made achieving the Supporters’ Shield look like destiny. Sigi even said he wanted it.

Three things have made the Crew look great: 1) the training staff is top of the league for maintaining team health and for returning injured players to health, 2) Sigi has built the deepest team in the league by fostering developing talent in an environment that has an abundance of mature, smart players who lead by example, 3) Guillermo Barros Schelotto is the best player in the league right now and has inspired his side to raise their game.

El Mellizo is simply unparalleled in his productivity, talent and ability to inspire his team. There are open calls for his place as MLS MVP at year end. He certainly deserves it.

I’m 8 kinds of certain they’ll renew his contract next year. We’re playoff bound.

Another note on this match. I won a Glidden sweepstakes and got the use of their luxury box for the night. For the biggest game of the year. It was awesome. Beautiful weather, a great game, and a volume discount on beer. I’ll post some pictures later, but I want to thank all of my friends who joined me, as well as Glidden, for their support of the Crew.