Own Goal forces a draw for the Crew

By: Matt | March 30th, 2009

Picture thanks to studio79
!The Crew were six minutes away from getting three points in their home opener, but a Gino Padula own goal evened the honors between the Crew and the visiting Toronto FC. While the Crew were ale to prevent the Canadian Reds from truly testing Will Hesmer, the goal rewarded TFC for their increased possession during the second half. The Crew got their goal in the 13th minute when a Guillermo Barros Schelotto cross found the arm of Kevin Harmse and the referee did not hesitate to point to the spot. Schelotto stepped up to the spot and put the ball right down the middle as Toronto keeper Stefan Frei dove right. The Crew nearly doubled their goal total in the 37th minute when Eddie Gaven drilled a strike that hit the left post. The rebound found Schelotto who then played it to Emmanuel Ekpo, who played much better in middle this week than he did the week before. Ekpo fired a shot that Frei barely got a hand on and sent it over the bar. While the Crew was not exactly Brazil, they enjoyed most of the possession in the first half and the best scoring opportunities.

Toronto increased the pressure applied to the Champions in the second half, seemingly holding a majority of the possession in the half, but the Canadians could not do much with the possession beside some moon shot attempts at goal. At one point, Dwayne DeRosario literally put the ball out of the stadium. Literally, I saw it go over the stage, bounce twice and go over the edge of the concourse. Credit for the lack of chances by Toronto must go to the center backs Chad Marshall and Danny O’Rourke. Marshall continued to prove why he was the MLS Defender of the Year, and it might be prudent to say that the best center back for the U.S. was not in El Salvidor but Columbus. Credit must also go to O’Rourke. I spoke in previous entries about O’Rourke’s *ahem* tendency to mow down opposing strikers in the box, but it is clear that this is not the same Danny O’Rourke. O’Rourke seemed to win every 50/50 ball and was just as solid as the dominating Marshall. Unfortunately, a bit of bad luck can ruin 80 minutes of solid work by a defense.

In the 84th minute, Dwayne DeRosario sent a free kick to the left flank. Gino Padula had to clear the ball with the amount of pressure near the net and got his head on it. Unfortunately for Gino and the Crew, the ball went towards the goal where Will Hesmer was in position to play the free kick but not a shot on his goal. Hesmer got a finger on the ball but was only able to put it just below the crossbar. A thousand Canadians in red on the south side celebrated an own goal draw like they just won the World Cup. The Crew tried to gain the advantage in the remaining six minutes, but much of the Crew offensive creativity was lost when Guillermo Barros Schelotto was subbed off a few minutes before the Toronto goal. The referee brought the match to a close and the Crew had their second draw in as many games.

The Crew should be disappointed with the draw, but it was a tough task losing your team captain and top goal scorer to international duties. The Crew seemed content to try and absorb the Toronto pressure in the second half and bend but not break. Unfortunately, in soccer you will get the occasional bad bounce. I am never a fan of sitting back and hoofing the ball on defense. The Crew certainly had the players to try a counter attack but most of the time when the Crew got possession in their own end, they usually just tried to clear it up field and temporarily relieve the pressure.

As mentioned, Chad Marshall and Danny O’Rourke was solid as a rock on Saturday. While Guillermo Barros Schelotto got the Man of the Match honors, I believe that Marshall deserved that honor. After giving up possession and failing to find anyone with a pass when playing as a center midfielder against Houston, Emmanuel Ekpo’s play improved, as the Nigerian created a couple good scoring opportunities, including the shot that Frei just got a hand on. It also seemed like Eddie Gaven was a man on a mission as well on Saturday. Gaven won balls all day and started numerous Crew attacks.

Unfortunately there was plenty of negative aspects to the Crew draw on Saturday. Alex Grendi looked lost again filling in for the injured Robbie Rogers. Grendi was easily pushed off the ball and just seemed a step behind everyone else on the field. While Gino Padula had a decent day besides the obvious incident, why his clearance attempt was towards goal I am not sure. The Crew will have to bounce back from this disappointing result from the weekend and get prepared early for their first trip to the new Rio Tinto stadium to take on Real Salt Lake (who exactly is the King of Salt Lake? The guy with all the wives?)