Monday, June 2, 2014

Late Game Mistakes, Crew Fall to Reds

Mistakes do the Columbus Crew as they go from being a goal up in the 80th minute to a goal down by the time the final whistle blows.

1ST HALF (1-1)
New faces in both line ups meant sloppy play for most of the first half but there was a moment of some brilliance in the 18th when the Crew countered Toronto and scored via Justin Meram. The transition from defending to attacking was the best we've seen from Columbus all year.



Celebrations didn't last too long because Toronto immediately pressed hard for a goal and got one when Tyson Wahl reached out and grabbed Jermaine Defoe's shoulder as he slipped past. Penalty called and finished.

2ND HALF (2-1)
The uneven, broken play of the first half subsided and both teams found some rhythm for the first 20 minutes of the 2nd half. A Ben Speas sub in the 61st minute paid off immediately when he played a perfect corner to Agustin Viana for headed goal to put the Crew up 1-2 with 15 minutes left to play.

Toronto became more and more aggressive in their attack subbing on Gilberto and Dwayne De Rosario late. The Crew didn't have enough to hold them off for long and they ended up with two goals in the final 10 minutes of play (Defoe 81' - off a Parkhurst ball handing error and Henry in added time, poor marking on the big lad).

FINAL (3-2)
The Crew are probably frustrated because they let the lead go twice but Toronto always looked good for a few goals in this one. With both Federico Higuain and Wil Trapp out (as well has Giancarlo Gonzalez and Waylon Francis on World Cup duty) the attacking abilities of Toronto was too much for Columbus to overcome.

A busy week for Columbus continues Wednesday when they take on Real Salt Lake at home.

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