The Columbus Crew's home struggles continued Saturday evening with a 1-0 loss to D.C. United. Alecko Eskandarian was twice the villain in Crew Stadium, scoring the game's lone goal in the first half and getting sent off in the second.
Despite the man advantage for nearly a half-hour, the Crew saw their four-match unbeaten run -- all draws -- ended with the defeat, while United extended their unbeaten streak to 12 games and their winning streak to five.
The Crew made four changes from the team that tied Houston Dynamo on Tuesday. Leonard Bisaku replaced Brandon Moss in the midfield and Marcos Gonzalez returned to the backline in place of Chris Leitch after missing the Houston match for personal reasons.
With Sigi Schmid opting for a three-man back line, Ezra Hendrickson pushed up into a wide midfield role. Tim Ward, missing the U.S. U-20 tour in Canada for this match, was Hendrickson's left-sided counterpart. Jacob Thomas, playing for the first time since June 18 following a strained oblique, got the nod up top, and Kei Kamara and Ricardo Virtuoso went to the substitutes' bench.
The Crew survived an early United attack as Hendrickson blocked Ben Olsen's shot off the line. Jaime Moreno gutted the Crew midfield with a 40-yard run before slotting the ball to his strike partner. Eskandarian dribbled in on goal, but Noah Palmer knocked the ball away. Unfortunately for the 'keeper, he set up Olsen for a prime opportunity on goal with the rebound, but superb positioning by Hendrickson kept the match scoreless.
In the 28th minute, the Crew wasted one of the better chances of the first half. Following a foul by Eskandarian on Gonzalez near midfield, Ritchie Kotschau served a ball over a disorganized D.C. defense that allowed both Joseph Ngwenya and Ward to breach the backline. The pass found Ngwenya, who misfired on the shot.
The visitors were again unlucky not to take a first-half lead in the 34th minute as D.C. defender Facundo Erpen saw a beautifully taken long distance strike bounce off the crossbar.
The last stage of the half opened up for both sides. Olsen, Leonard Bisaku, and Ngwenya each had chances during a fast-paced stretch of play that ensued. Ngwenya's chance occurred after United goalkeeper Troy Perkins dropped a cross into the striker's path, but the Columbus striker had trouble corralling the ball before the D.C. defense collapsed on him.
Four minutes from the break, Jose Retiz was cautioned for a foul on Olsen. On the 28-yard free kick, Eskandarian blasted the free kick through a break in the wall created by the departure of several United players and into the back of Palmer's net.
The lead for the visitors was nearly short lived. From the kickoff, Bisaku sprung Ngwenya in alone on Perkins. The United netminder was able to touch the ball away from Ngwenya before contact that shook up the Crew striker and left the Crew facing a halftime deficit.
The second half began with the Crew trying to emulate D.C.'s goal. Bobby Boswell was booked for a foul on Retiz in nearly the exact same position in which Eskandarian converted in the first half. Eddie Gaven tapped the ball to Thomas who was not as clinical as his United counterpart with the opportunity.
Eskandarian's first start in nearly a month ended prematurely in the 65th minute with a foolish challenge on Gonzalez while play was stopped after United were flagged for offside. With the ejection, Eskandarian will miss the final regular-season match against the Crew next Saturday in D.C.
The Black-and-Gold were unable to take advantage of their extra man over the remainder of the match. The best chances came from corner kicks with Gonzalez, Chad Marshall and Hendrickson coming close to beating Perkins with clear headers.
The Crew's best passing display came as the match entered stoppage time. Hendrickson found Sebastian Rozental at the back post and the substitute headed the ball across the goalmouth, but Ngwenya was not able to get a touch on the ball.
But the tying goal just wouldn't come for the Crew, who still have just one home win on the campaign -- none against Eastern Conference opponents.
John Kuhn is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
