The Columbus Crew had eight hours on a bus Wednesday to reflect on another gut-wrenching Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup loss to the Chicago Fire the previous night in Peoria, Ill., while looking for an upside as it prepares for Saturday's MLS match in Kansas City.
"It's disappointing because the guys put in a lot of effort and a lot of heart," Crew coach Sigi Schmid said.
Andy Herron scored for the second time in the match, converting a penalty kick in the 116th minute, to lift the Fire to a 3-2 victory and advancement to the round-of-16. Maybe the outcome shouldn't have been surprising: Chicago has won all three Open Cup games against the Crew in extra time.
While Columbus rediscovered its offensive mojo, got more playing time for youngsters such as defenders Andy Iro and Ryan Junge and welcomed the return of forward Jason Garey and midfielder Duncan Oughton, another injury hangs over the team.
On the same day that midfielder Adam Moffat had surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and will be lost for the season, midfielder Eddie Gaven was carted off in the 75th minute with an ankle injury. Schmid is unsure how long he will be out.
"It's definitely gut-check time going into Kansas City. We're pretty banged up," Schmid said.
The Crew is winless (0-3-1) and goalless in the past four league matches but at least it knows it can put the ball in the back of the net after twice rallying from one-goal deficits against the Fire as midfielder Emmanuel Ekpo and Garey scored in the second half.
"We showed some fight and we never quit. We kept fighting to find a way back into the game," Crew forward Alejandro Moreno said. "I thought we were going to go to penalty kicks (shootout) but they got that late goal. It's a tough way to lose. You play 120 minutes and have nothing to show for it."
The defeat might be eased by the appearances of Garey (groin) and Oughton (bone spurs), each of whom had been limited to reserve matches.
"It's good to have those guys healthy. They add a lot to the team. It certainly gives us an option with them off the bench or starting a game," Moreno said.
For Garey, the match was bittersweet. Yes, he scored on his first touch to tie the match at 2-2 less than a minute after entering in the 66th minute but he also coughed up the ball on the play that led to Herron's penalty kick.
"I'm glad coach gave me a shot and I was able to score a goal," Garey said. "Jed (Zayner) made a great play down the right side and put the ball there for me. Jed put it there on a platter.
"I was disappointed I didn't do a better job holding the ball there at the end. It might have been a different result. If I don't lose the ball all the way up the field none of that happens. I'm taking the fall for that one. I'm going to work on it, get better at it. Unfortunately, I had a negative impact on the game as well."
Herron dribbled unmarked into the right side of the penalty area only to be met by sliding goalkeeper Will Hesmer, who took down the Costa Rican forward with a tackle.
Schmid, who thought Moreno should have been awarded a penalty in the 50th minute after being pushed down and Chicago's Justin Mapp could have been given one as well after a collision in the box, was philosophical about the decisive call.
"It's one of those where the guy is coming down on the breakaway; whether the goalkeeper touches him or not, an experienced player like Herron is going to push it and dive," he said. "Most referees are going to call it because of the angle they're coming from and what they see. How much Will got Herron I don't know. I don't think Herron would have gotten to the ball because he pushed the ball out of bounds. That's one of those bang-bang plays."
Scoring from the spot has not been easy as MLS foes have learned this season. Hesmer has stopped three of four attempts but Herron made it look easy as he stuttered then deftly deposited the ball into the left corner of the goal as Hesmer dove the opposite way.
It was a cruel end for a Crew team that outshot the Fire 21-14, had 10 of the 17 shots on goal and dominated play for large patches of the second 45 minutes and into overtime after a sluggish start.
Some of that running-in-sand feel might have been attributed to a youthful lineup that didn't have the right approach. Iro and Junge -- with a combined five MLS career matches between them -- got the start in the back while usual reserves Ekpo, Brad Evans, Zayner and Steven Lenhart were also in the first 11.
"We didn't come out with the right mentality," Garey said. "The first 20, 30 minutes we weren't ourselves. After that we were able to turn it around. Anytime you score in any game it's good for the confidence. I wish we would have finished better and got a couple of more goals."
The Crew trailed 1-0 at the break on a 10th-minute goal by Stephen King and it was no mystery why they did.
"The main talk at halftime was we have to be men out there," Schmid said. "We were too tentative and played a little naïve. Lenhart and Evans played better as the game went along and Eddie Gaven was having a real good game until he got hurt. It was good to have Iro and Junge out there at the end of the game. We dominated the second half. Duncan had three opportunities to win the game but you've got to get one on frame to have a shot at winning."
Besides the intermission tongue-lashing Schmid made some tactical adjustments. He had Ekpo play wider on the flanks to allow Gaven more freedom on the inside and also inserted leading scorer Robbie Rogers into the mix in the 56th minute.
The Crew had not scored in a team-record 368 minutes of MLS play but struck for goals by Ekpo (63rd minute) and Garey (67th) with a responder by Herron in between.
"At times we were not comfortable pressuring the ball, pressuring as a team. They were finding a lot of space in the middle of the park," Moreno said of the opening 45 minutes. "We started pressing the issue a little bit more in the second half. We put pressure on their backline and forced them to turn the ball over in their half of the field. We had some momentum going into overtime and we carried it the first 15 minutes where we actually created some quality chances and we didn't take advantage of them. In the end we didn't react well to a turnover."
The Crew paid for their mistake as always seems to be the case against the Fire.
Columbus and the Fire can't match the longevity of the 95-year-old tournament but they have accumulated some history since competing against each other in Cup competition over the past 10 years. Unfortunately for Columbus, the previous two results were not good, beginning with the first encounter in 1998 when the teams played for the championship in Soldier Field.
The events leading to the Fire's 2-1 overtime win were bizarre. The title match had been scheduled for late August in Virginia Beach, Va., but Hurricane Bonnie roared up the eastern seaboard and forced a one day delay then a postponement for two months.
In the interim each team lobbied U.S. Soccer officials to host the match, assuming a home-field advantage could make the difference. They were right. A raucous crowd of 18,615 in the Windy City not only celebrated the expansion Fire's MLS Cup victory five days earlier but local hero Frank Klopas' extra time score that completed an unlikely double.
The second meeting in the round-of-16 in 2004 had less at stake but was just as dramatic when Damani Ralph scored twice, including the winner in the 106th minute to take a 2-1 win in Columbus Crew Stadium.
Columbus has won the tournament named for its founder once -- in 2002 against Schmid's Los Angeles Galaxy -- but has failed to reach the round-of-16 for the third time in four years.
"The Open Cup is certainly important for the team. They know it was named after Lamar. It's an important ingredient for them to go after it," Schmid said. "You want to do well because of what Lamar meant to this organization."
No comments:
Post a Comment