Major League Soccer - Columbus Crew beat Chicago Fire 2-1
Columbus Crew beat Chicago Fire by 2 goals to 1 in a thrilling Major League Soccer encounter. It was the end of the first half that actually decided the match where 3 goals were scored in just 5 minutes that saw Columbus come on top of the Eastern Conference table. It was a big win for Columbus in a match where the Eastern Conference rivalry was at stake. Scotland’s Adam Moffat and Jason Garey were on the score sheet along with Frankie Hejduk, who would have preferred not to have his name on that list after he scored a dreadful own goal.
Chicago despite playing away from home looked in excellent touch at the start of the first half. They dominated the game and hogged the possession for the first 10 minutes. Columbus on its part did not look like a settled outfit to begin with. The midfield was disorganised and there was no cohesion between the wingers and the full backs. As a result, Chicago made full use of the situation with a number of good moves at the start. However, lack of quality players upfront meant that they were not able to convert half chances into goals.
Ghana’s Patrick Nyarko and Guatemala’s Marco Pappa were both efficient at the wings, but could not find the opening behind the Columbus full backs. Meanwhile, McBride wasted a number of chances at the front of the goal. The missed chances created some frustration in the ranks which started to show on the pitch, as Chicago started to hit long distance shots but to no avail. Nyarko, Pappa, and McBride all lined up and tried their luck from outside the box, but not a single shot actually threatened the Columbus goal.
Team Columbus, which is known to be lethal when in counter-attacks, proved that they do thrive on such opportunities. As Chicago continued to attack, Crew found some space on the counter and got at least two counter moves going. Barros threaded an inch perfect pass through 3 defenders to Jason Garey, but the striker could not connect properly and his shot hit the post and bounced away. That was beyond any doubt the best chance of the match till then.
However, it was a similar move that actually opened the scoring around the 40 minute mark. Argentinean player Guillermo Schelotto managed to find Garey despite the three defenders between them. Garey made a brilliant run into the box and made his way towards the goal. The goalkeeper quickly rushed forwards and Garey as he took a quick shot. The goalkeeper managed to get a hand on it but it fell in the path of Moffat who had the simplest of tasks of tapping the ball into an empty net.
The away side responded strongly and within a minute, Chicago levelled the match. Baggio Husidic crossed the ball into the box towards Nyarko. However, Frankie in an effort to head the ball away from Nyarko deflected it into his own net as the wrong footed keeper looked at his defender in shock.
However, that was not the end of scoring in the first half as the Crew right from the restart gathered some serious momentum and passed the ball around with authority. The ball went to the left flank and Eddie Gaven played a fabulous cross towards Garey. The forward finally managed to score a goal by heading in the second. The half finally ended at 2-1 in favour of the Columbus Crew.
Chicago came out in the second half looking hungry for goals as they had dominated most of the first half and were understandably disappointed by being behind in the match. There was a chance for Husidic but he could not make it count and wasted a good opportunity within the first 3 minutes of the second half.
Nyarko did not do much better, fluffing at two good chances soon after. At first, he had a free header which he could not divert on target and then he found himself 6 yards from the goal with the keeper at his mercy. However, he could not get a shot on target. Despite the misses, Nyarko did not lose heart. Later, he smashed one into the side netting after an excellent pass in the box from Pappa’s back heel.
That pretty much summed up the afternoon for Chicago and despite being the better team for most of the match; they ended up losing by 2-1 to Columbus Crew.
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