The Columbus Crew continued their hot 2008 on Tuesday night, this time topping Real Salt Lake 2-0 at Crew Stadium in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play-in match. The Black-and-Gold got goals from rookie Steven Lenhart in the first half and Robbie Rogers in the second half to take a step closer to the U.S. Open Cup field.
With the victory, Columbus advances to play the Chicago Fire in both teams' final play-in match on June 10.
Both Columbus and RSL have extra busy schedules this week, playing three matches in seven days. With the extra game in mind, Crew head coach Sigi Schmid mixed a few new faces in his lineup, hoping to keep some of his players fresh. Lenhart, a 2008 MLS SuperDraft pick from Azuza Pacific University got the start at forward in his first appearance with the first team.
The Crew opened the game by booting the ball long down the left sideline. Rogers used his speed to track it down just before it rolled over the end-line, sending a cross back to Crew forward Adam Moffat. Moffat ripped a shot but had it blocked by the Real Salt Lake defense. The rebound bounced out to Emmanuel Ekpo, who too saw his shot blocked by the Real defense, keeping RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando's net safe for the moment.
Lenhart would make Schmid's decision to start him look good in the 26th minute. Ryan Junge took a deep throw-in for the Black-and-Gold and tossed it into a dangerous area of the box. Crew forward Alejandro Moreno went up to battle for the header but two RSL defenders collided with him and each other, knocking the ball loose. Lenhart sprang into action and beat everyone to the spot, unleashing a low, hard and gave the Crew the lead when Rimando couldn't handle it.
The Crew looked to double the lead in the first half, attacking often. Lenhart had a chance to sneak past the defense and double his tally but was caught offside. Rimando seiezed the opportunity to counter-attack and started his team back in a hurry, but the Crew defense was able to get back just in time to thwart the RSL attack.
As the second half opened tempers began to flair a bit on the field. In the 49th minute, RSL midfielder Dema Kovalenko collided with Ekpo while battling for a loose ball near the endline. A foul was called on Ekpo and, as both players got up off the ground, an exchange of shoves ensued along with some words, after which Kovalenko tossed the ball at Ekpo, hitting him in the face. Referee Jeff Gontarek held a conference with his line judge and dismissed Kovalenko with a straight red card, sending RSL a man down.
Rogers continued his campaign for the 2008 U.S. Olympic team by netting another scorcher of goal in the 53rd minute. This time the 21-year-old winger stood 25 yards from goal, rolled the ball to his preferred right foot and blasted a rope to the far post. Rimando could not react in time to reach the well struck ball, and the Crew had a two goal lead.
Going a man down almost seemed to open up the attack a little more for Real Salt Lake, as they began to work the ball forward better than they did with 11 players. Schmid gave the start in goal for the Crew to Andy Gruenebaum, who was barely tested in the first half. The second half was a different story as RSL began to throw players forward down two goals. Gruenebaum made diving saves in both the 61st and 71st minutes, first to stop Kyle Beckerman and the second to keep Andy Williams out of the net.
Gruenebaum and the Crew defense continued to hold their lines and keep the RSL attack out of the net through the final few minutes of the game, giving the Black-and-Gold the shutout and a ticket to the next round of U.S. Open Cup play.
Nathan Linton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
