COLUMBUS, Ohio – On a night when Columbus Crew SC sorely needed a win, the club came through with its first home victory in almost three months.
Crew SC controlled the match in a 2-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday to stay within six points of the red line after D.C. United smashed the Chicago Fire, 6-2. The win gave Columbus three points at MAPFRE Stadium for the first time since May 28, and after a disappointing midweek loss to the Philadelphia Union, the win provided more relief than jubilation.
“We needed to bounce back,” Crew SC head coach Gregg Berhalter said after the match. “It was a tough game Wednesday. We were looking at the week and we thought we had a big opportunity this week and we were disappointed with the result. We asked the guys to bounce back, and I think they did that and then some.”
The players who did the bouncing back were much different than the ones from Wednesday’s match. The team was missing Federico Higuain due to inflammation in the area of his hernia surgery and Berhalter chose to rest leading scorer Ola Kamara and bring veteran defender Corey Ashe back into the lineup.
Berhalter said he hoped the fresher legs would allow his team to “move the ball and wear (San Jose) down,” and had faith in his substitutes.
“We said early on in the week and early on in the year, ‘We’re going to need guys. We’re going to need bodies. Everyone in this room is going to be asked to step up at one point or another,’” he said. “We believe in the team. There was no hesitation making these changes at all.”
Justin Meram stood out in the match, assisting Ethan Finlay on the team’s first goal and then earning and taking a penalty kick to close out the game.
Meram stated that his performance was a case of keeping his game simple. He added that he and Finlay needed to continue to pick up slack with Kamara out.
“Multiple guys need to score and help out,” Meram said. “For periods over the last couple of months it was Ola and he was kind of by himself. So we definitely need to help out, especially when we’re playing major minutes.”
Columbus will need plenty of contributions from the entire squad in the coming days. Berhalter said Higuain was “hampered” by the inflammation and was completely unavailable, and midfielder Wil Trapp – who missed three months with a concussion last season – came out of the game in the 13th minute after he collided with San Jose’s Shaun Francis.
Trapp was visibly shaken. His teammates guided him to the ground and called for trainers, and Trapp was immediately taken to the locker room. Berhalter confirmed that Trapp suffered a concussion, and said it “wasn’t good” at first but that the regular starter improved as he walked to the locker room.
