Real Salt Lake vs. Columbus Crew in CONCACAF second leg quarter-final – MLS Preview
The Columbus Crew is set to take on the Real Salt Lake in the second leg quarter-final of the CONCACAF Champions League at the Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy on Tuesday. The tie breaker winner will find a berth in the semi-final. The Columbus will eye the away-goal
advantage in the series finale.
The Columbus had made their way to the quarter-finals for the second consecutive year, as they finished second behind the Mexican club Santos. Earlier, as the first leg ended in a scoreless draw, as the game became a battle between the rivals. Though the
weather was cold and breezy, but there was plenty of heat in the game. The RSL defender Nat Borchers’ confrontation with the Columbus forward Emilio Renteria, drawn the teams into physicality. The referee was unable to turn-off the heat, as he ejected a couple
of RSL players to take some control over the game.
The series decider will be played at Rio Tinto, where the home team holds tremendous record of remaining undefeated in 25 Major League Soccer games. Despite of the draw-back of losing couple of big guns, the RSL will be somewhat positive considering their
previous exhibition at home. But the worrying sign for the RSL is that they were unable to slot a single shot on goal and neither earned a corner kick. This was their worst ever offensive performance on the field in 200 games.
The veteran defender Robbie Russell has the opportunity to replace Borchers, but it will be interesting thing to see what role he gets, as the head coach Jason Kreis has shown intentions to utilize the natural aggressive instinct of Russell on the forward
line as striker. The Columbus defence did not give them any kind of room and restricted the RSL offense.
On the other side, the Columbus will seek to take full advantage of the away-goal rule. The rule allows them to move forward in the semi-final, even with a 1-1 draw in the regulation time. The goal-less tie within the regulation time will progress to the
over-time session, followed by penalty kicks. The second leg provides the visitors with this opportunity in the tie breakers only.
Despite of all the off-season roster turnovers, the Crews' have been able to form the most threatening forward line in comparison to some of their well recognized opponents. It consists of five new faces including a couple of rookies, Rich Balchan and Cole
Grossman, as the intensity of attack has been high and they have been assured with their offence. The Crews have not been able to win a game in Utah since the sixth of May, 2006. Columbus missed the chance of away-goal once against the Real Salt Lake, but
they will surely be looking to turn it around this time.
The most effective striking line of Columbus in the first leg and dented defence line of the RSL, surely favours the Columbus to win. The team has more possibilities to clinch the decider, as there are more probable to capitalise the away-goal opportunity
against the uncertain back-line of the opponents. The winner will play either Olimpia of Honduras or Saprissa of Costa Rica, in the two-leg CCL semi-finals.
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