Columbus.- It wasn’t planned, by I ended up watching the game next to Waylon Francis at a local bar. The Costa Rican left back for Columbus Crew SC did not take part of this tough road trip across the country due to an ankle injury while he was with his national team. With 10 minutes still on the clock, he asked for his check and told me: “This game is going to end like that: 0-0” He didn’t leave. He hung in there until the final whistle. His teammates did the same to earn their second point in two games with 6,500 miles on their shoulders in less than three days.
Columbus arrived in Foxboro determined to not let New England get an inch close to their last two 2014 playoff games where they completely outplayed them. Not this time, not again. On Wednesday night at Vancouver, they let the Whitecaps take the initiative and waited for the counter, and it worked. Today, the Crew SC went back to their possession style (57.5%) and kept the Revs out of the final third.
It is inevitable to recognize the rivalry between these two squads. Yellow cards were flying, and Higuaín once again got one for himself (not for committing a foul of course). However, the Argentinian’s intensity did not translate into the Crew SC attack. It wasn’t Kei Kamara nor Ethan Finlay. The offensive role resided on Justin Meram.
Don’t let the number 9 on his jersey fool you. It’s official, Meram shares the number 10 role with Higuaín and its a beautiful thing. It doesn’t mean that the Argentine is giving up responsibilities, its more like Meram is stepping up on his own game. He can generate offensive movements further away from the box, creates deeper channels and the ball flows freely.
The unfortunate part of the story is that all that offensive midfield work died on the final third, with no shots on target. The Crew SC is missing those diagonal runs from Ethan Finlay. The winger is struggling with the ball on his feet. His routes are getting shorter, and the Revs did a great job keeping him far from the box.
Hernán Grana returned to the starting line-up. The right back was solid as usual, but today his offensive projections were not clean. As soon as he trespassed the center line, three and sometimes four New England Players were putting pressure on him. His crosses were uncomfortable and less effective.
The goal never showed up on a windy afternoon at Gillette Stadium, and that’s ok. The Crew SC showed they could adapt to difficult conditions and still walk away with their head held high and with points in the bag, very valuable points.
