Although the Columbus Crew have twice this season matched the club record for their worst-ever loss, neither defeat was as painful as Wednesday night at Crew Stadium. The Black & Gold led for most of the match through a first half penalty kick before allowing two late goals in a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake.
"It was a game I thought we should have had," said Crew head coach Sigi Schmid.
The Crew played a good first half and took the lead into the break after Sebastian Rozental converted from the penalty spot. It came after RSL defender Willis Forko dragged down Jacob Thomas as he tried to race past him on the endline.
"For me personally, I thought it was a penalty kick. The ball was still in. I probably could have gotten to the ball before it went out of bounds and that is when he hit me," said Thomas. "I haven't seen a replay, but when it happened I thought it was a foul."
The Crew attack was looking better than it had been recently, with Joseph Ngwenya and Jason Garey making their first starts after both coming back from injuries. The pair had previously started five games together, with the Crew taking seven points from those games and scoring five goals. While those numbers are hardly earth-shattering, it's a much better return than when compared to the Crew's other matches.
"I thought with both Ngwenya and Garey it was our best forward combination. They were pretty aggressive, Joseph especially," said Schmid. "I thought those two guys were solid."
Ngwenya, returning from a right MCL strain, forced veteran RSL defender Eddie Pope to be cautioned for a professional foul and tested Scott Garlick in the second half with a superb solo effort.
"Fitness-wise I felt all right," said Nwgenya. "I thought I was in on that one before he (Eddie Pope) took me down."
"I thought our attack was better today. Sebastian brings a lot to the field. He can hold the ball and makes the right passes," said Garey. "I think Joe and I did a good job up there. We didn't score, which we have to do."
Both strikers showed frustration with the manner in which the game was lost.
"We did create some chances, but right now it is more frustrating than anything," said Garey. "We had the game. It really bothers us."
Added Ngwenya: "At the end of the day, it was a frustrating game. We need to come out with at least a point at home."
With the Crew now riding a 13-match winless streak, the rest of the Eastern Conference is starting to begin to slightly pull away from the struggling Ohio outfit. With just nine matches remaining, the Crew have little room for error. Due to injuries, the closure of the international transfer window and even more futile scoring numbers from the Crew reserves, Schmid has no choice but to stick with the players that he brought in.
"I hate to sound like a broken record but there are still guys out there that I believe in," said Schmid. "At the end of the day, maybe I am wrong with some of my assessment. I think they have the ability but maybe they don't have the character."
In addition to injuries plaguing the team, the Crew boss pointed out one other affliction that has haunted the Crew in every match this season.
"The one constant besides injuries for us is that there is always somebody that comes up with an awful game," said Schmid.
On this night, Schmid singled out Marc Burch and Brandon Moss with less than stellar performances. The RSL equalizer came just after Burch entered the match with instructions to defend Klein on the right wing, Schmid said.
John Kuhn is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
