After trading goals six minutes apart in the first half, D.C. United laid siege to the Columbus Crew goal, but the home side's defense held out as the teams ended with a 1-1 draw on Saturday night at Crew Stadium.
The league's top scoring team, United managed just one goal against a Crew defense that had allowed just one goal in its previous four matches. Joseph Ngwenya gave the Crew a 23rd-minute lead before Christian Gomez answered for the visitors, but both teams could have scored more.
United didn't take long to threaten their central Ohio hosts. Just seconds into the match, D.C. captain Jaime Moreno released a shot on goal forcing a diving save from Crew 'keeper Jon Busch.
However, the Crew created a majority of the excitement in the game's first 15 minutes, finding their way behind the United defense on several occasions, only to have each challenge cleared at the last moment.
Moreno created his club's second opportunity for goal in the 21st minute of action, lofting a shot from the edge of the restraining arc beyond the outstretched glove of Busch, only to see the ball descend harmlessly atop the roof of the goal.
Although United had scored first in their last six matches, it was the Crew who struck first in the 23rd minute. Ezra Hendrickson made a long run down the right before slipping the ball forward to Ngwenya. The recent arrival from the Galaxy latched onto the through ball just outside the area and chipped the ball first-time over the charging United 'keeper, Troy Perkins.
Minutes later, D.C. narrowly missed its equalizer -- twice. First, Moreno latched onto a beautifully placed corner and knocked it past the Crew 'keeper, only to be saved by lingering defender Eddie Gaven on the line. Seconds later, a breathtaking angled shot by Christian Gomez was deflected by Busch off the face of the crossbar.
A relentless United did find revenge however, in the 29th minute, when Busch failed to hold a strong shot from Adu from the right corner of the area. Gomez quickly pounced on the rebound inside the goal area and carefully deposited it home from the equalizer.
Just before the break both teams narrowly missed a second as the match raced from end to end. Crew forward Jason Garey raced to get onto the end of a lofted pass and found himself behind the entire United backline, only to rush his shot and have his it deflected by Perkins.
On the counterattack, United midfielder Josh Gros burst through the Crew defense and hammered a shot from a good position that sailed over the crossbar with only Busch to beat.
After the break, the open match continued, and again the Crew defense held firm -- getting help from all hands.
Minutes into the second half, an already injury-plagued Columbus team lost defender Rusty Pierce to a pulled right hamstring; Chris Leitch was called upon as Pierce's replacement.
In the 63rd minute, Gomez fired a sizzling shot from 20 yards deep which was brilliantly saved by Busch. United controlled the rebound and after a quick one-two Adu found himself within a golden opportunity to break the stalemate, but a last-ditch tackle from the side cleared the ball away.
Then 10 minutes from the end D.C. won a corner kick, and the resulting shot was cleared off the line by Brandon Moss. On the play, Busch suffered an injury to his surgically repaired right knee when challenging for the initial service, and after a brief attempt to remain in the game, the frustrated 'keeper was replaced by Andy Gruenebaum, making his MLS debut.
Despite holding a 17-3 edge in total shots, and a 7-2 edge in shots on goal, United couldn't past the Crew defense and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Ryan D. Kuhn is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
