After capitalizing on an early mistake yet falling behind by the end of the first half, the Columbus Crew got a late equalizer from Kei Kamara to battle back for a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution on Thursday evening at Crew Stadium.
After Ned Grabavoy put the Crew ahead early, New England took a halftime lead on tallies by Andy Dorman and Taylor Twellman. However, the Revolution couldn't hold out as Kamara's goal four minutes from the end earned the Crew a third consecutive draw on the season.
The Crew's young Brazilian, Ricardo Virtuoso, made his first start of the season, hoping to interject some much needed urgency into a stagnant Columbus attack that had yet to score a goal in both its contests this season.
It seemed to have an immediate effect as Columbus opened the game on the attack, including two early corner kicks and another cross ball that forward Andy Herron volleyed wide of the net.
Then in the eighth minute the Crew's efforts were rewarded as an errant Revolution pass was picked off 35 yards from goal and pushed wide to midfielder Joseph Ngwenya, who then picked out Virtuoso across the box. Virtuoso calmly laid the ball back to Ned Grabavoy at the top of the penalty area and he netted the first goal of the season after his shot took a deflection on its way to goal.
Coming into Thursdays match with New England, second-year Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum could arguably have been the most valuable player for the first two games. He recorded the first two shutouts of his young career, first at home against New York, followed by an impressive performance in Salt Lake when he was tested often in the second half but came up large in each occasion.
Yet only a few minutes after Columbus took the lead, the Revolution caught the Columbus defense napping with a nifty passing sequence between Adam Cristman and Dorman. Dorman collected a pass in the heart of the penalty area and drove it home, claiming honors as the first man to beat Gruenebaum this season.
New England continued to offer the Crew opportunities in the first half via careless passes and sloppy play in the middle of the field. Herron was a benefactor of such carelessness in the 22nd minute, but Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis sent the Costa Rican's dipping strike back to the top of the box. Eddie Gaven latched onto the rebound, but his chance was cleared away.
In the 38th minute of the game Twellman came to life. Having barely been involved to that point, the dangerous forward stole a misguided Columbus pass, and after a settling touch or two, he hit for his third goal on the season with a bouncing right-footed strike past Gruenebaum from 25 yards out.
The remainder of the first half was rather chippy. In the 42nd minute Revolution defender Jay Heaps brought down Herron just outside the box, and was rewarded with a yellow card for his efforts but again the Crew squandered the set piece. Heaps then appeared to be on the receiving end of a vicious elbow from Herron, but referee Ricardo Salazar did not spot an infraction.
Over the final stretches of the half, neither team was able to maintain a consistent attack with the game being stopped frequently for fouls, and after the break the game continued with a similar storyline. Grabavoy went into the books in the 48th minute with a yellow card to accompany his goal.
Columbus continued to find Virtuoso in the second half, allowing him to get off a dangerous crossing header on one occasion and creating off the dribble on another. But in the 61st minute coach Sigi Schmid brought in forward Brad Evans for Virtuoso.
In the 66th minute, New England coach Steve Nicol replaced Cristman with forward Pat Noonan, and nine minutes later the Revolution forward found a wide-open Twellman strolling down the center of the penalty area. But Gruenebaum stepped up and denied Twellman of his fourth goal of the season from only 14 yards with his best save of the day.
Schmid also replaced Ngwenya in the 69th minute, sending on a third attacker in Kamara to join Herron and Evans. The moved paid off handsomely in the 86th minute when Evans freed Columbus captain Frankie Hejduk for a great run down the right flank. Hejduk's low cross rolled under Revolution defender James Riley at the near post to an unmarked Kamara, and he hammered his shot off the underside of the bar into the goal for the levelling goal.
Neither defense yielded anything close over the closing minutes and when the final whistle sounded, it was yet another inconclusive result for the Crew, who have still neither won nor lost in the 2007 season.
Nathan Linton is a contriburor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
