COLUMBUS CREW v FC DALLAS
COLUMBUS CREW STADIUM, Columbus, Ohio
7:30 p.m. ET (FSC/FSE)
Oct. 6, 2007 (WEEK 27) / MLS Game #176
The Columbus Crew face perhaps the most important game in their 2007 season, when they take on FC Dallas in their final home game of the regular season. Trying to return to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2004, the Crew currently sit in ninth place in the MLS overall standings, two behind the Chicago Fire, who hold the final postseason berth. FC Dallas has yet to officially secure their spot in the postseason, though they could do so with just a single point against the Crew, despite coming off a loss to New England in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final at midweek.
REFEREE: Mark Geiger. SAR (bench): Anthony Vasoli; JAR (opposite): Nate Clement; 4th: Hilario Grajeda
MLS Career: 30 games; FC/gm: 31.8; Y/gm: 4.2; R: 5; pens: 12
Games involving Crew: P8 W5 L3 T2; FC/gm: 30.5; Y/gm: 4.0; R: 2; pens: 1
Games involving FC Dallas: P6 W3 L1 T2; FC/gm: 36.2; Y/gm: 4.7; R: 2; pens: 1
INJURY REPORT: COLUMBUS CREW - OUT: DF Chad Marshall (concussion); MF Brad Evans (L hip flexor strain); MF Brandon Moss (L knee ACL reconstruction); QUESTIONABLE: DF Rusty Pierce (L hamstring strain); PROBABLE: MF Guillermo Barros Schelotto (R hamstring strain) ... FC DALLAS - OUT: FW Roberto Mina (L knee); MF Marcelo Saragosa (R knee); DOUBTFUL: DF Alex Yi (concussion), MF Pablo Ricchetti (L groin)
SUSPENDED: DAL: Carlos Ruiz (through Oct. 12)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CLB: Marcos Gonzalez ... DAL: Chris Gbandi, Marcelo Saragosa, Juan Toja
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CLB: Stefani Miglioranzi, Danny O'Rourke, Duncan Oughton ... DAL: Drew Moor, Dominic Oduro, Aaron Pitchkolan, Pablo Ricchetti, Dario Sala, Alex Yi
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (31 meetings): Crew 12 wins (1 shootout), 42 goals ... FC Dallas 13 wins (1 shootout), 44 goals ... Ties 6
AT COLUMBUS: (16 meetings): Crew 8 wins (0 shootout), 27 goals ... FC Dallas 3 wins (0 shootout), 17 goals ... Ties 5
• This is the second of two meetings this season between the Hunt Sports Group brethren, the only one set for Crew Stadium.
• A year ago, the Crew won both meetings between the teams, winning 2-1 in Frisco then claiming a 3-1 victory on Black & Gold Boulevard.
• Dallas had defeated the Crew just once over the last four seasons before the victory in the first meeting this year - a 2-1 win in the first meeting ever between the clubs at Pizza Hut Park. Since the 2003 campaign, Columbus has won six of 11 encounters, with three draws.
• Dallas has never won at Crew Stadium. Since the Crew moved into their new home in 1999, they have defeated Dallas on seven occasions, with draws coming in the other five. All three Dallas wins in league play lifetime came in Ohio Stadium. And, when FC Dallas defeated Columbus in a fourth-round Open Cup meeting in 2005, that win came at the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University.
• Coaches record: Sigi Schmid vs. DAL: P22 W9 L6 D7 ... Steve Morrow v COL: P1 W1 L0 D0
LAST MEETING:
8/11: DAL 3, CLB 2 (Alvarez 60; Ruiz 80; Goodson 90 - Gonzalez 6; Herron 74)
• On Aug. 11 at Pizza Hut Park, the Crew dominated from the outset, and in the midst of a long string of corner kicks took a sixth-minute lead. Guillermo Barros Schelotto swung in the service from the right and Marcos Gonzalez headed home at the near post for his first goal with the Crew.
• But the home side fought their way back into the game and pulled level on the hour mark. Dominic Oduro pulled back a cross from the left corner, and after it hit off a defender, Arturo Alvarez quickly controlled it and slapped a shot inside the right-hand post for his fifth goal for the club in the last six games in all competitions.
• Columbus regained the lead in the 74th minute. As Frankie Hejduk tried to turn the corner on the right side of the area, he was hauled down by Chris Gbandi and a penalty kick awarded. Andy Herron drove the spot kick high into the center of the goal for his first goal since May 26.
• Yet just six minutes later the Hoops again pulled level. Marcelo Saragosa swung in a neat cross from the left corner of the area and Carlos Ruiz rose up to power home a trademark header, his second goal in three league games after going 15 contests in MLS play without a goal.
• But literally from the ensuing kickoff, Saragosa was sent off as he hit Crew midfielder Ned Grabavoy with an elbow, referee Jorge Gonzalez showing the Brazilian a straight red card.
• Still, it was FC Dallas that hit for the game-winner. Dax McCarty put in a corner kick from the right and Clarence Goodson slipped in unmarked to snap home a header for the dramatic winner.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-2-3-1): Will Hesmer - Frankie Hejduk, Marcos Gonzalez, Chad Marshall, Stefani Miglioranzi - Danny O'Rourke, Danny Szetela - Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Ned Grabavoy, Eddie Gaven (Robbie Rogers 46) - Alejandro Moreno (Andy Herron 63). Substitutes Not Used: Jason Garey, Andy Gruenebaum, Ezra Hendrickson, Duncan Oughton, Rusty Pierce
• Here's Morrow's team (4-4-2): Ray Burse - Drew Moor, Adrian Serioux (Aaron Pitchkolan 20), Clarence Goodson, Chris Gbandi - Arturo Alvarez, Pablo Ricchetti (Ricardinho 77), Marcelo Saragosa, Dax McCarty - Carlos Ruiz, Abe Thompson (Dominic Oduro 46). Substitutes Not Used: Michael Dello-Russo, Boris Pardo, Bobby Rhine, David Wagenfuhr
COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew saw their playoff hopes dealt another blow, getting an early goal before the Los Angeles Galaxy came back for a 2-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at Crew Stadium. The Crew have 29 points with three games remaining, still two points behind the Chicago Fire for the eighth and final playoff spot, and still two points ahead of the Colorado Rapids.
LAST MATCH
• The Galaxy had won back-to-back games for the first time all season after their midweek win, while the Crew were coming off a victory against Toronto that put an end to a seven-game winless run.
• The home side got off to a dream start before the largest crowd of the season at Crew Stadium. Andy Herron took a pass in the right corner, worked his way and drove in a cross that Alejandro Moreno stuck his head in to nod home for his sixth goal on the campaign.
• But the Galaxy stormed back with two goals in a four-minute span. A freekick was lofted into the area, and after bouncing around a bit, Frankie Hejduk's attempted clearance bounced off Troy Roberts and past Will Hesmer, just rolling over the line before the Crew 'keeper could stop it. It was the first professional goal for the young Galaxy defender (13).
• Then in the 16th minute, Kyle Martino picked off an attempted pass out of the area by Hejduk, cutting back across the top of the box before ramming home a low shot.
• The Galaxy withstood a real Crew flurry, especially over the final minutes, Cobi Jones heading a ball out of the goalmouth on a corner and Columbus striker Kei Kamara rattling the face of the crossbar.
• Crew head coach Sigi Schmid made no changes to the team that came back for a 2-1 victory against Toronto FC the weekend before.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-4-2): Will Hesmer - Frankie Hejduk, Marcos Gonzalez, Ezra Hendrickson, Danny O'Rourke - Andy Herron (Jacob Thomas 55), Ned Grabavoy (Stefani Miglioranzi 64), Duncan Oughton, Eddie Gaven - Jason Garey (Kei Kamara 78), Alejandro Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Andy Gruenebaum, Adam Moffat, Robbie Rogers, Tim Ward
• "We're right there, we're close, we didn't get dominated, we didn't get outplayed, we're in the game, we had our chances to win the game, but at the end of the day the final result is we didn't win the game," Schmid said. "We did not win the game. So all the play, and all the stats mean absolutely nothing."
TEAM NEWS
• The Crew remain two points outside the top eight with the loss, two points behind the Chicago Fire for the final MLS Cup Playoffs spot. In addition, the Los Angeles Galaxy moved into contention with the win, now just four points behind Columbus and six behind Chicago.
• "That is the last step in our development, being able to win big games like this. Win it ugly if we have to. Win it beautiful if need to. Win it by rolling up our sleeves and fighting like mad men. Win it by just playing the other team off the field," Schmid said. "Whatever it takes, we have to find a way to win."
• Over the last two months, the Crew have now lost five of their last nine games, with three draws, the lone win coming against Toronto FC two weeks ago.
• "We've managed to waste a lot of games in the last month or month and a half, and it's been really disappointing," said Alejandro Moreno. "You can say a lot of things about what has gone wrong, but you hope that an early goal like that can show the way for the rest of the game. Then you find yourself down 2-1 chasing the game and that's always difficult."
• Maybe worse, the Crew have lost three of their last four home games, and took just one point out of a possible 12. The game against FC Dallas is the final home game of the season; they finish the campaign with trips to face the top two teams in the Eastern Conference in D.C. United and New England.
• "We have got to win these games at home," said Sigi Schmid. "These are big games, and every time we have big games we have found a way to come up short, and that is a problem that we have to solve."
• It hasn't helped that, for essentially the last four games, the Crew have played without Argentinean linchpin Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Schelotto came off after just 10 minutes in the Sept. 8 loss to Chicago with a hamstring injury and has not played since.
• "What we need to take that next step is we have to be able to find that resolve when the game is going against us," said Schmid. "When the game tips a little bit, and every game is going to tip in favor a little bit. No matter who you play every team is going to have moments when they are down in the game, and that is when we need someone to stand up, step up and say, 'I'm in charge here,' because we are not a sport where that can happen from the outside."
• The Crew faced each of the teams immediately challenging them for the playoff qualification line in September, and the results weren't great. They lost 3-2 to current seventh-place Kansas City, lost 1-0 to current eighth-place Chicago, tied current 10th-place Colorado 1-1 and then lost to current 11th-place Los Angeles.
• "Every game since the All-Star break has been the same thing, pretty much," said Ned Grabavoy. "Get a lead, give away a lead. Have a lead at the end of the game, give the game away. Lose points here and there. Basically it became that every game got bigger and bigger and bigger because we kept giving points away."
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas lost for the third time in their last four games, falling at home for the first time to their in-state rivals in a 3-0 defeat by Houston Dynamo on Sunday afternoon at Pizza Hut Park. FCD still has 40 points with three matches now left to play, with only the slimmest of hopes of gaining a top two placing in the Western Conference with both Dynamo and Chivas USA tied for the top spot with 48 points.
LAST MATCH
• Houston Dynamo were returning to action after a weekend off, with wins in their last two games, while FC Dallas had lost four games in their last six down the stretch.
• The visitors had control of the match from the outset, and took the lead in first-half stoppage time. Dwayne De Rosario was able to latch onto a through ball that bounced off an FCD defender, and after dribbling into the area he rolled home an angled shot inside the far post.
• Dynamo doubled their lead in the 62nd minute. Richard Mulrooney flighted in a corner kick from the right and it flew all the way to beyond the back post, where Eddie Robinson came in to turn the ball home.
• Houston completed the rout and finished off the club's first victory in Frisco in the 84th minute. Brian Ching was able to wriggle free on the right and cut back into the center, before rolling a pass into Stuart Holden's path, and he calmly slotted home.
• Each team ended the game a man down, after FC Dallas striker Carlos Ruiz and Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark were sent off when they were involved in a melee a minute from the end.
• FCD head coach Steve Morrow made three changes to the team that lost 2-1 to the Los Angeles Galaxy the Sunday before at home. Alex Yi came into central defense for the suspended Clarance Goodson and Blake Wagner made his MLS debut at left back for Chris Gbandi. Pablo Ricchetti came back from injury into central midfield, as Dominic Oduro went to the bench.
• Here's Morrow's team (4-4-1-1): Dario Sala - Drew Moor, Clarence Goodson, Adrian Serioux, Blake Wagner - Arturo Alvarez (Abe Thompson 85), Dax McCarty, Pablo Ricchetti (Dominic Oduro 64), Juan Toja - Denilson (Ricardinho 64) - Carlos Ruiz. Substitutes Not Used: Ray Burse, Bobby Rhine, David Wagenfuhr, Alex Yi
• "I'm very, very disappointed by our lack of commitment and effort in the second half. I think the goal 30 seconds before halftime completely changed the course of the game. We gave up a bad, bad goal in a very bad time and never quite recovered from it," Morrow said. "We were comfortable. We weren't playing our best offensively but were solid defensively. Our second half performance was pathetic."
TEAM NEWS
• It was the third victory in four tries against FC Dallas for Dynamo, with the fourth meeting a draw. With FC Dallas seemingly slotted into third place in the Western Conference and Houston and Chivas USA tied for the top spot, it's even odds that the Texas rivals will face off in the conference semifinals.
• "We started the game fine and I thought for the first half, we were the better team. They really had nothing other than a few set pieces, they had no chances. I thought we were knocking it fine and defending as a team. But then, one lapse in concentration and that's it," McCarty said. "They hit us for a goal before halftime. Any time you give up a goal like that, it's going to kill your confidence. We should've reacted better to it in the second half. But right now, it's just not good enough for us. We're in a little unlucky patch and we have to find a way out."
• Morrow said in the buildup to the match that he was looking for more from Denilson. In the six games since the one-time World Cup winner had come to the club, he had been tried as an attacking central midfielder and a wide midfielder. Against Houston, he was played as the second underneath forward, behind Carlos Ruiz, but came off just after the hour.
• "The substitution was very simple," Morrow said. "He (Denilson) wasn't giving as much as he should have. I didn't think he was contributing enough to the game. He's the same as every player. If you don't do that, then someone else should have a go. That was the simple reason."
• Ruiz was sent off in the final minute after the scrap with Ricardo Clark, but the penalty was doubly troubling. Earlier in the match, he had received a yellow card that put him over the limit, as a result he will be suspended for two matches in succession.
• "It (Clark's red) was very much deserved," Morrow said. "Retaliation like that is obviously not the right thing. It was very violent conduct and I think the league will take a close look at it. I've looked at it again and Carlos (Ruiz) did nothing."
• 19-year-old left back Blake Wagner, a second-round pick (18th overall) in the 2006 SuperDraft, made his MLS debut and receive passing marks. "I thought Blake did very well," Morrow said after the loss. "He played very maturely for his first start. He looked like he'd been out there for a very long time. He played well and handled the situation well. I thought it was a very competent performance."
• On Wednesday night, for the second time in three years, FC Dallas fell in the U.S. Open Cup Final, losing 3-2 to the New England Revolution, who won their first honor in club history.
• Pat Noonan opened the scoring on 21 minutes after slotting home a deflection at the far post. Arturo Alvarez equalized nine minutes later with a cultured finish with the outside of his left foot. Taylor Twellman restored the Revolution advantage just before the break from a Steve Ralston corner kick.
• Wells Thompson grabbed New England's third, and the eventual game-winner, 12 minutes after the break after buildup play from Twellman and Noonan before Abe Thompson tallied less than a minute after entering the game to halve the deficit in the 64th minute, but FC Dallas could get no closer.
• "We shot ourselves in the foot again by giving up some soft goals and we clearly need to stop that," Morrow said. "I think this team has come a long way in six or seven months and we've still got a little bit to do. We've made one final already and that was a big achievement. We intend to make another one this year."
• Here's Morrow's team: Dario Sala, David Wagenfuhr (Kenny Cooper 76), Clarence Goodson, Adrian Serioux, Drew Moor, Dax McCarty, Pablo Ricchetti (Alex Yi 46 / Abe Thompson 63), Juan Toja, Dominic Oduro, Carlos Ruiz, Arturo Alvarez. Substitutes Not Used: Ray Burse, Chris Gbandi, Aaron Pitchkolan, Bobby Rhine
• Morrow did not put Denilson into his 18-man gameday roster, as he was limited by competition rules to five non-U.S. players. He was forced into two changes through injury, as Pablo Ricchetti suffered a groin injury in the first half, then his replacement Alex Yi had to come off with concussion in the second.
• "Unfortunately, Pablo (Ricchetti) got a groin strain and tried to play on as long as he could," Morrow said. "He was limping around and couldn't go on. These things have happened to us this year, losing key players at big moments. It affected the rhythm of our play taking the guy in the middle of the field responsible for possession and it left some holes for us."
• Kenny Cooper also made his return to action for first time since June 9, coming on as a late sub. "He was desperate to get minutes tonight. I was hoping he was going to give us a little bit of a fairy tale ending by throwing him on for the last 10-15 minutes," Morrow said. "He threw himself around and it will take him a little while to get back to his best. But I was really pleased to see him back out on the field."
