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COLUMBUS CREW v D.C. UNITED
COLUMBUS CREW STADIUM, Columbus, Ohio
7:30 p.m. ET (CSN-DC)
May 20, 2006 (WEEK 8) / MLS Game #44
Despite a beginning that has seen his squad riddled with injuries, new Columbus Crew boss Sigi Schmid has quietly turned around his team's fortunes, as the Black & Gold have now won two games in a row and allowed just a single goal in their last four contests. They play host to Eastern Conference leader D.C. United who are on the road for just the third time this season; their lone loss on the campaign came a couple of weeks ago in Colorado before bouncing back last weekend with a home win against Kansas City to reclaim the division lead.
REFEREE: Richard Heron. SAR (bench): Rick Eddy; JAR (opposite): C.J. Morgante; 4th: Mikael Lundqvist
MLS Career: 37 games; FC/gm: 34.0; Y/gm: 2.8; R: 9; pens: 10
MLS 2006: first game
Games involving Crew: P9 W1 L5 T3; FC/gm: 33.8; Y/gm: 4.0; R: 1; pens: 1
Games involving United: P4 W4 L0 T0; FC/gm: 37.0; Y/gm: 3.0; R: 1; pens: 1
INJURY REPORT: COLUMBUS CREW - OUT: GK Jonny Walker (lower back), DF Jed Zayner (L knee ACL); GK Bill Gaudette (R broken hand); MF Danny Szetela (L foot fracture); DF Frankie Hejduk (R knee ACL); DF Marcos Gonzalez (L hamstring strain) ... D.C. UNITED - OUT: DF David Stokes (R quad strain); MF Santino Quaranta (R hamstring strain); DF Brandon Prideaux (MCL sprain); PROBABLE: GK Nick Rimando (mid-foot sprain); MF Clyde Simms (hamstring strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: DC: Ben Olsen (2006 World Cup; USA)
SUSPENDED: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (36 meetings): Crew 13 wins (0 shootout), 55 goals ... United 17 wins (5 shootout), 55 goals ... 6 draws
IN COLUMBUS: (18 meetings): Crew 10 wins (0 shootout), 31 goals ... United 5 wins (2 shootout), 18 goals ... 3 draws
This is the first of four meetings between the long-time Eastern Conference rivals, the first of two at Crew Stadium this season and the first of a pair of encounters in short order. The teams will meet again in just 11 days time at RFK Stadium, then they meet on back-to-back weekends in July, on the 8th in Columbus and then on the 15th in Washington.LAST YEAR (MLS)
4/15: CLB 1, DC 0 (Buddle 26)
5/7: DC 3, CLB 1 (Moreno 5; Gros 9; Adu 71 - Mediate 69)
7/2: CLB 0, DC 1 (own goal 64)
10/15: DC 2, CLB 2 (Kovalenko 45; Moreno 75 - Buddle 17, 52)
A year ago, United won two of the four meetings between the clubs with one draw - the first time since the 1999 season the Black-and-Red had claimed the season series. In the five intervening seasons, the Crew had won the season series three times, the teams evenly splitting their encounters twice (2001, 2004).
United's 1-0 victory at Crew Stadium last year was their first victory in Columbus in more than six years, and their first regulation-time league victory at the Ohio State Fairgrounds since their first-ever match there. United defeated the Crew 2-1 in Columbus on June 13, 1999, then won via shootout after a 1-1 draw on July 7 of that year. D.C. then went winless in their next nine league trips to Columbus (three draws) before the July 2 win.
Three times in the first four years of MLS history the clubs met in the MLS Cup Playoffs, the Eastern Conference championship decided on all three occasions as United won berths in the 1997, 1998 and 1999 MLS Cup Finals by defeating the Crew.
Coaches record: Sigi Schmid v DC: P15 W9 L4 D2 ... Peter Nowak vs. CLB: P8 W3 L2 D3COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew won for the second week on the trot, their first home win of the campaign, getting the only goal of the game late to defeat the Colorado Rapids last Saturday at Crew Stadium. The Crew are still tied for third place in the Eastern Conference with 10 points from seven matches, level with the New England Revolution three points behind the Kansas City Wizards and four behind D.C. United.
LAST MATCH
An injury-riddled Crew team received a couple of reinforcements the day before the match, obtaining Ned Grabavoy and Joseph Ngwenya from the Los Angeles Galaxy in exchange for Kyle Martino and John Wolyniec.
The Rapids suffered a blow after just 10 minutes when two-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Joe Cannon suffered a groin injury and was replaced by Bouna Coundoul, the Senegal-born 'keeper making his professional debut.
Both teams kept clean sheets until the 74th minute when Grabavoy - who had arrived in Columbus just that morning - cut inside from the left past a pair of Colorado defenders and unleashed a low shot from just inside the penalty area that beat Coundoul inside the far post.
Crew head coach Sigi Schmid made three changes to the team that defeated Real Salt Lake 1-0 away the week before. With Chad Marshall out to injury, Rusty Pierce moved centrally and Chris Leitch came in on the back line. Tim Ward replaced the suspended Jose Retiz, and Joseph Ngwenya made his Crew debut as he replaced Kyle Martino.
Here's Schmid's team (4-4-1-1): Jon Busch - Ezra Hendrickson, Ritchie Kotschau, Rusty Pierce, Chris Leitch - Kei Kamara (Ned Grabavoy 60), Brandon Moss, Tim Ward (Knox Cameron 77), Joseph Ngwenya - Sebastian Rozental (Leonard Bisaku 60) - Jason Garey,. [Substitutes Not Used: Ivan Becerra, Andy Gruenebaum, Dayton O'Brien, Eric Vasquez]
"Every week we have to come up with a new lineup. Right now we have to win games even though we are looking for that cohesion and we're doing that," Schmid said. "I couldn't be more proud of the effort that our team has put in under some very difficult situations.TEAM NEWS
The addition of Ned Grabavoy and Joseph Ngwenya - two players Schmid knew well from his days when in charge of the Galaxy - brought a real jumpstart to the Crew attack. The Crew have only seven players in their current squad who were on the team's 28-man roster to begin the 2005 campaign.
"I think for sure Joseph showed tonight what he can bring. He is amazingly fit and he unbalances defenses and that's what he brings," Schmid said.
"And Ned Grabavoy is a clever player. That's what I expect from him. Being able to make decisive plays at decisive moments and that's the reason we made that trade," Schmid said. "... Ned, when he plays on the left side, is very good at cutting in. He has always been a very good finisher. He just found the far corner and that is what he had to do."
Along with Ezra Hendrickson, Grabavoy and Ngwenya now make three former Galaxy players to reunite with Schmid over the past few weeks. "Obviously, I was excited for the move and to Sig (Sigi Schmid)," said Grabavoy. "I know Joe (Joseph Ngwenya) is too. ... If you come in and train everyday with the right mindset and you are a good player and work hard, you'll deserve time and you'll get it. If you show well when you get playing time, you'll get more."
Schmid also gave a Crew and MLS debut to another player - Croatian midfielder Leonard Bisaku, who arrived in Columbus on Wednesday and came on for Sebastian Rozental on the hour.
"I didn't think it was a game really suited for him (Rozental) per se. I thought in the second half he got caught flat-footed a couple of times," said Schmid. "We just felt by making that double sub, that Leo (Bisaku) and Ned (Grabavoy) could maybe help settle the ball down at different times and bring that added energy."
The Crew have allowed only two goals in the last five games after giving up six in the first two. "Our mantra over the last four games has been give us a chance to win," said Schmid. "Rusty Pierce, in terms of what he has done so far, has been our defender of the year. He has brought it every game."
Additionally, Schmid praised the work of Chris Leitch, an Ohio native making his first start for the Crew since 2002. Leitch came in at left back as Pierce moved centrally. "Leitchy did a great job. [Rapids winger Terry] Cooke killed us last time," said Schmid. "He bottled him up pretty well on that side." Cooke assisted on all three goals in the Rapids' victory against the Crew earlier this season.D.C. UNITED
D.C. United reclaimed the top spot in the Eastern Conference with a 2-1 victory at home against the Kansas City Wizards in a battle of the division's top two teams on Saturday night. United now have 14 points from seven matches, one ahead of the Wizards in the East, and one behind Western Conference-leading FC Dallas in the league overall table.
LAST MATCH
The teams combined for three goals in the opening quarter of the match, before United held on to move back in front of the Wizards in the Eastern Conference table.
A stunning goal from Alecko Eskandarian gave the home side the lead on 12 minutes. Jaime Moreno pulled the ball back to Christian Gomez in the restraining arc, and he floated a sublime chip to Eskandarian on the left side of the penalty area. Eskandarian hit the ball with a thundering volley that smashed off the inside the post and hit the back of the net with such force it flashed back out onto the field.
The teams then traded penalties seven minutes apart. Freddy Adu held back Ryan Pore as the young Wizards forward tried to round him near the byeline, and Sasha Victorine sent Troy Perkins the wrong way for the equalizer. But seven minutes later United once again nosed in front, Moreno converting from the spot after Eskandarian was bundled over by rookie fullback Matt Groenwald.
Despite missing three starters to World Cup duty with the U.S. national team, the Wizards had their share of opportunities to again pull level - none moreso than the empty net that greeted Scott Sealy in the 37th minute - the visitors could not find the leveller.
United head coach Peter Nowak made two changes to the team that lost 2-1 to the Colorado Rapids, once again undergoing a tactical re-fit. Bryan Namoff went to the back line and Dominic Mediate made his first United start wide on the left of midfield, as Brandon Prideaux was lost to injury. Freddy Adu also came back into the team in a central midfield role as Jamil Walker returned to the substitutes' bench.
Here's Nowak's team (3-1-4-2): Troy Perkins - Facundo Erpen, Bobby Boswell, Bryan Namoff - Brian Carroll - Domenic Mediate, Freddy Adu, Christian Gomez, Joshua Gros - Alecko Eskandarian (Jamil Walker 88), Jaime Moreno [Substitutes Not Used: Rod Dyachenko, Lucio Filomeno, Jeff Carroll, Ryan McIntosh, Brandon Prideaux, John Wilson]
"We are very happy to get these three points and be in first place," said Nowak. "This is what the goal was before this game, and I think we achieved these three points and got the win, a very important win against a very good team."TEAM NEWS
In the absence of World Cup-bound midfield terrier Ben Olsen, the home side came out with Brian Carroll tasked to pick up the slack as the sole holding midfielder, with Freddy Adu also in the center, but getting more forward.
"I had a little bit more ground to cover defensively, playing with only one defensive midfielder out there today," said Carroll. "So when the ball came to me I had to make sure that I kept it. Otherwise there's not another guy in there to just keep the ball, swing it around and make sure it gets from point A to point B. ... We didn't keep it enough, but we kept it enough to get the win."
One of those times when the two forward central midfielders were asked to track back led to the goal, when Adu pulled down second-year forward Ryan Pore in the United.
"Unfortunately for me, I got in the box, I get caught, I almost go down so I pull the guy down. I was hoping Troy (Perkins) would save it, but most importantly, we won, and that's always the most important thing at the end of the day," Adu said. " ... I do it to people, and they do it to me too. He did a good job, you've got to give credit where credit is due."
Still, there were some lingering concerns for the United back line, even though the Black-and-Red allowed just a single goal and took home the full three points. "Sometimes we left ourselves open," Nowak said. "That was because of Kansas City's good movement, but basically we were too careless with the balls playing from our back line."
"We gave up a lot more chances than I would have liked," Boswell said to The Washington Post, "but for the most part, in a game like that, to be on top at the end of the day is what you wanted. So you can't take that away from us."
