Twice on Saturday night, the Columbus Crew took one-goal leads against FC Dallas. Then, even after seeing the home side pull level for a second time, a red card gave them a man advantage. But the Crew couldn't capitalize on their good fortune and lost 3-2 to the Hoops at Pizza Hut Park.
"We just didn't possess the ball enough," Columbus head coach Sigi Schmid said. "I thought we were close to getting a couple of breakaways but overall, we just didn't do a good enough job of holding the ball and put ourselves under a great deal of pressure."
Columbus scored first as Marcos Gonzalez netted his first MLS goal in the sixth minute off a Guillermo Barros Schelotto corner kick. FCD equalized in the 60th with a goal from Arturo Alvarez.
The Crew took a 2-1 lead in the 74th when Andy Herron converted a penalty kick, but Carlos Ruiz pulled FCD level in the 80th minute. Even after Marcelo Saragosa was sent off in the 81st after delivering a punishing elbow to the throat of the Crew's Ned Grabavoy, it was FCD that scored the winner when Clarence Goodson headed home a corner in the second minute of injury time.
"When (Marcelo) Saragosa got the red card, it was almost like, OK we've got it," Schmid said. "I almost wish he hadn't have gotten that card. I think we would have been better off because even when he was in there, we were still close to breaking through."
Even though FC Dallas came into the game with a five-game unbeaten streak, the Crew felt they could come away with a result to keep pace in a tightly-packed Eastern Conference.
"Obviously, the effort was there. On two different occasions, we were leading the game and felt like we were going to get out of here with at least a point," said Crew forward Alejandro Moreno. "In the end, they take advantage of a set piece and in some ways, it's our responsibility to make sure that everyone is marked up on set pieces at the end of a game. We didn't do that and we leave here without a point."
After allowing 17 goals over a seven-match run, the Crew had really tightened up their defense, recording five shutouts in their last six games. But they couldn't stop FC Dallas.
"It's disappointing," Herron said. "They're a man down and every time we put the ball down, we got better positioning but lack of possession was killing us. They had a great effort with a man down and we couldn't keep the lead. We can't do anything but keep our heads up and keep working."
When asked what happened on the final goal, when Goodson broke free on a corner by FCD midfielder Dax McCarty and scored the game-winner off a header, Schmid offered a succinct response.
"Our marking was poor and you have to mark tightly," he said. "We were five or six yards off the ball and Goodson was able to take a 15-yard run. If you give a guy that's good in the air like him, it will hurt you. The guy who was marking him missed his assignment and just didn't do his job."
Schmid felt the match boiled down to his side's lack of quality at times other than the early part of each half of play.
"I thought we played well early on in each half," he said. "After that, I thought we made a little bit of a mess of it. Credit Dallas because they put a lot more energy into the game and their defense pushed up and kept things compact for them. We didn't do a good job holding onto the ball and had too many guys have off games."
Steve Hunt is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
