Crew Rd 15: A Needed 3 pts

Last night's 2:0 Crew win over league leading Montreal is the first time Federico Higuain has played in a match where the team beat a club ranked above 9th on the league table (1 Win, 5 Draw, 4 Loss. 8 points from a possible 30).

1ST HALF
With a 'new / old look' lineup of Chad Marshall and Josh Williams anchoring at the center back spots, Columbus came out of the locker room with loads of energy and seemed to catch a slumbering Montreal side by surprise. Right off the bat, in the 6th minute, a venturing forward Matias Sanchez took a shot from the top of the box that took a deflection and went in. Things could not of gotten off to a better start.

Just about 15 minutes later Dominic Oduro stripped a lazily playing Collen Warner 25 yards from goal and took it in for an easy finish.

From there, Montreal still didn't seem to be able to muster up much energy and seemingly just wanted halftime to arrive.

2ND HALF
Columbus came out looking to defend their lead. No more huffing and puffing and chasing the ball around. Just simple defense and possession. In that regard, the Crew did very well. Wave after wave of Impact attack came and the Crew were able to withstand it.

Montreal appeared to be out of ideas by about the 70th minute. Their difficulties were exacerbated by the fact that they were playing without the services of Head Coach Marco Schällibaum, who was suspended for this match.

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FINAL THOUGHTS
By the end of the match it became very clear that Columbus wanted this one more that Montreal. Oddly enough, this was the second time these two have met and both times the Impact were without their head coach.

It was really great to see Bernardo Anor out there in the starting lineup again. It has been nearly a year since fans last saw him. Anor was an important cog in the 2011 playoff Crew side. He is an intelligent player, one of smarter and more 'natural footballers' on the team.

Also good to see was Josh Williams playing in a Center Back roll. Chad Marshall also made his return but last year Williams was the one that stood out in that roll, above and beyond everyone else on the team.

This win for the Crew breaks a troubling streak of futility against better teams and keeps them hanging in the playoff picture.

However, when things were all said and done after this one both clubs maintain their current table positions. Montreal 1st and Columbus 14th. The road is still long for the Crew but some strides were made yesterday.

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FOLLOW UP
Last game I looked a Justin Meram's heat map and asked the question; What position was he playing. Here is his from last week compared to Bernardo Anor's this week (click to enlarge):