Saturday's home match with FC Dallas was not officially a must-win game for the Columbus Crew to stay alive for the MLS postseason. But as their last home game of the 2007 season, it was certainly a great opportunity for the squad to pick up much needed points if the Crew are to reach the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs.
The game was a story of two halves, as the Crew dominated the game in the first half and took a 1-0 lead into the locker room. But FC Dallas took control of the game in the second half, scoring three unanswered goals to deflate the Crew. Their first goal came early in the half in the 48th minute, and they tacked on two more in the final eight minutes of the game, silencing the more than 19,000 Crew fans in attendance.
"I felt like we actually played pretty good soccer," said Eddie Gaven, the Crew's lone goalscorer. "We were able to create just as many good chances that they did, or that's what it felt like anyway. But we only finished one chance and gave up three. It doesn't matter how many chances you create if you lose."
Columbus took the game to Dallas for the majority of the evening. In the first 32 minutes of the match the Crew tallied 10 shots, putting eight of those on goal. The team's season high for shots on goal before Saturday was nine.
"If you outshoot a team like we did in the first half, you have to bury a few more goals," said Crew head coach Sigi Schmid. "Tonight, I didn't feel like we were the worse team on the field."
After the game, the attitude in the Crew locker room was one of exasperated frustration.
"That was one of the most frustrating games I've played in," said Robbie Rogers. "We had our chances and just could not put those away. If we put a few more of those in, the other team wouldn't even be in the game."
The most frustrating part of the team's recent downward spiral is not just the fact that the team is losing, but the manner in which they are losing.
"Stats are stats," said a fiery Duncan Oughton after the match. "At the end of the day, the only stat that matters is Dallas 3, Columbus 1."
Combined with Chicago's win against New England on Saturday, the Crew are now five points out of eighth place with two games remaining -- trips to face the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, D.C. United and New England Revolution.
Saturday's loss to FC Dallas means the Crew have won just one of their last 10 games, and put them in danger of failing to qualify for the playoffs for a third consecutive season, something that had happened just twice in league history prior to this season.
"Nobody is more disappointed than I am," said Schmid. "I feel bad for our fans because I feel our fans deserve more."
Nathan Linton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
