COLUMBUS CREW vs KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
COLUMBUS CREW STADIUM, Columbus, Ohio
May 9, 2009 (WEEK 8) / MLS Game #56
6 p.m. CT (FSC/FSE)
Still searching for a first victory on the season, the defending MLS champion Columbus Crew entertain the Kansas City Wizards in the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the opening of Columbus Crew Stadium, the first major-league stadium specifically built for soccer in the USA. The Crew have played to three consecutive draws, last a 1-1 tie at Toronto a week ago; the Wizards returned to action at midweek following a 10-day layoff with a 1-1 home draw against D.C. United.
REFEREE:
Jorge Gonzalez. SAR (bench): Bill Dittmar; JAR (opposite): Cyril Madukanya; 4th: Chris Penso
MLS Career: 28 games; FC/gm: 26.9; Y/gm: 3.9; R: 7; pens: 11
INJURY REPORT:
COLUMBUS CREW - OUT: MF Adam Moffat (L hamstring strain); DF Andy Iro (L quad strain); GK William Hesmer (L knee sprain); PROBABLE: DF Frankie Hejduk (R hamstring tightness); FW Jason Garey (R ankle sprain); MF Cory Elenio (L hamstring strain) ... KANSAS CITY WIZARDS - OUT: FW Adam Cristman (fifth metatarsal fracture); GK Eric Kronberg (shoulder surgery); DF Chance Myers (fifth metatarsal fracture)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES:
none
SUSPENDED:
none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: KC: Jack Jewsbury
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (37 meetings): Crew 16 wins (0 shootout), 64 goals ... Wizards 16 wins (2 shootout), 59 goals ... Ties 5
AT COLUMBUS: (20 meetings): Crew 10 wins (0 shootout), 34 goals ... Wizards 7 wins (1 shootout), 29 goals ... Ties 3
RETURN MATCH: 6/6: Columbus Crew at Kansas City Wizards, 8:30 p.m.
LAST YEAR (MLS)
5/3: CLB 2, KC 1 (Moffat 4; Rogers 34 - Lopez 79)
6/14: KC 0, CLB 3 (Marshall 3; Moreno 20, 67)
7/17: CLB 3, KC 3 (Schelotto 26; Moreno 33; Marshall 38 - own goal 22; Espinoza 24; Wolff 75)
• The Crew have won the last three league meetings between the teams at Crew Stadium, over the past two seasons. The last Wizards win in Columbus came June 10, 2006, a 1-0 victory.
• The Wizards had won the last four meetings at Arrowhead Stadium between the clubs, before the Crew won in the first game in the series at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, a 3-0 victory last year.
• The teams then met in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last season, the first ever postseason matchup between the clubs. A stoppage-time goal gave Columbus a share of the 1-1 draw in the first leg in Kansas City, and the Supporters' Shield winners then advanced with a 2-0 victory in Columbus in the return leg.
• Coaches record: Robert Warzycha vs. KC: P2 W2 L0 D0 ... Curt Onalfo v CLB: P6 W2 L3 D1
COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew saw their winless run reach seven games to open the season, again taking a lead before getting pegged back by Toronto FC before the teams settled for a 1-1 draw at BMO Field on Saturday afternoon. The Crew have five points from seven matches, sitting in a tie for seventh place in the Eastern Conference with the New York Red Bulls, now eight points behind division leaders D.C. United.
LAST MATCH
• Toronto FC came into the game as the Eastern Conference leaders following a pair of wins on home turf the weekend before, while the Crew entered at the foot of the division, still winless and off to the worst start for a defending champion.
• The Crew finally broke through nine minutes into the second half. Emmanuel Ekpo picked off a bouncing ball in midfield and raced goalward, splitting a pair of defenders on his way into the penalty area. There he rounded TFC goalkeeper Stefan Frei and rolled the ball into the empty net, the first goal allowed by Toronto in 240 minutes.
• But Toronto FC pulled even in the 64th minute. Sent down the left flank, Sam Cronin flighted in a cross that dropped perfectly between defenders and Chad Barrett stole in to snap a header past Andy Gruenebaum for his second goal on the season.
• Crew head coach Robert Warzycha made two changes to the team that tied the Chicago Fire 2-2 at home the weekend before. Jed Zayner came into the back four for the suspended Gino Padula, while Robbie Rogers returned to the midfield, in place of the injured Adam Moffat.
• Here's Warzycha's team (4-1-3-1-1): Andy Gruenebaum - Jed Zayner, Eric Brunner, Chad Marshall, Danny O'Rourke - Brian Carroll - Robbie Rogers, Eddie Gaven, Emmanuel Ekpo (Alex Grendi 80) - Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Pat Noonan 61) - Alejandro Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Kevin Burns, Ben Dragavon, Steven Lenhart, Duncan Oughton
TEAM NEWS
• The Crew have not been shut out this season, but have managed to score just a single goal in six of their seven games on the season. Their only two-goal outing was in their last home match, the 2-2 draw with Chicago.
• "I think when we were (playing) Chicago (and) Colorado, we had a number of chances too. It's just that it's frustrating that we got that goal again from inside the six," Warzycha said. "I mean we played a decent game, I think we played very good, if you look at the stats we had 17 shots on goal to five for Toronto and I think we moved the ball pretty well. I think there was a lot of commitment from the guys - we just should have done better in front of the box.
• The Crew have now secured the ignominious distinction of the worst start in MLS history by a defending champion. In 2003, the LA Galaxy opened 0-4-4 after winning MLS Cup the year before - all of those games were on the road, while The Home Depot Center was being finished. The Galaxy ended the losing streak with their first game in Carson.
• "There's no frustration. We'd feel better if we win just one game," Guillermo Barros Schelotto said. "Maybe the next game, with Kansas City [next Saturday]. The team needs one."
• In Toronto, Schelotto played just 61 minutes, his shortest outing of the season and just the third time that the striker has come out of a game early this year, coming off between the two goals. Warzycha said the substitution was due in part because of a first-half booking that Schelotto picked up.
• It was the fourth time this season that Columbus had ended with a draw after scoring the first goal, with the only bright side being that unlike the other three occasions, this tying goal didn't come in the final eight minutes of the game.
• "We need to manage the game at the end a little better," Robbie Rogers said. "We were trying to connect passes and the ball was getting lost and they would counterattack, especially after we scored. ... Sometimes I think we're a little naive and give up the ball way too easily. That's something we need to work on."
• The Crew could finally start to see some injured regulars ready for action after they action in Tuesday's fundraiser against The Ohio State University, a 3-1 win the Connor Senn Memorial Match. Right back Frankie Hejduk, who has missed the last six games after suffering a hamstring injury while on U.S. national team duty, said he is ready after playing 30 minutes vs. the university side.
• As well, Pat Noonan, who came on as a substitute vs. Toronto, is also available for full duty. Reserve forward Jason Garey (right ankle sprain) and starting goalkeeper William Hesmer (left knee sprain) are nearing returns and only defender Andy Iro (left quad strain) and midfielder Adam Moffat (left hamstring strain) are definitely ruled out.
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Kansas City Wizards returned to action after a 10-day layoff, seeing D.C. United take an early lead before coming back for a 1-1 draw Wednesday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. The Wizards now have 11 points from eight matches, level with the Chicago Fire for third place in the Eastern Conference, still two points behind sole leaders D.C. United.
LAST MATCH
• United were riding a two-game winning streak in league play, having moved to the top of the Eastern Conference, while the Wizards were back in action after seeing their four-game unbeaten streak come to an end in a 1-0 loss to Toronto FC on April 26.
• United took the lead of a tight contest in the 27th minute. Jaime Moreno slipped the ball into the penalty area, and rookie Rodney Wallace was able to hold off Wizards fullback Lance Watson while rolling the ball under onrushing goalkeeper Kevin Hartman into the net for his second professional goal.
• But the Wizards pulled level seven minutes after the break. Jack Jewsbury swung in a low, curling cross from the right flank and Josh Wolff slid in to apply the slickest of touches, diverting the ball past Louis Crayton for his third goal on the campaign.
• Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo made two changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Toronto 10 days previous. Jack Jewsbury and Herculez Gomez came back into the team in place of Roger Espinoza and Michael Harrington as Onalfo again shook up his attacking look.
• Here's Onalfo's team (4-1-3-2): Kevin Hartman - Lance Watson, Jimmy Conrad, Aaron Hohlbein (Michael Harrington 83), Matt Besler - Santiago Hirsig - Josh Wolff, Jack Jewsbury, Davy Arnaud - Herculez Gomez (Roger Espinoza 60), Claudio Lopez. Substitutes Not Used: Michael Kraus, Rauwshan McKenzie, Kurt Morsink, Boris Pardo, Abe Thompson
• "Unfortunately they had two good chances in the first half and they capitalized on one of those. I thought our response was very good to start the second half," Onalfo said. "Having said that, I still would have liked to have created some more opportunities and got that second goal. Give credit to D.C. United. They're a good team and they made it difficult on us tonight."
TEAM NEWS
• The Wizards managed just three shots on goal for the United match, a season-low. They had just five shots total in the opening 45 minutes, one on target.
• "We didn't do a consistent good job of pushing players on in terms of dealing with the extra player they had in the midfield when they were playing out of a 3-5-2," Onalfo said. "So, we addressed that at halftime. We talked about how we needed to step up and deal with their wide players and not play 4-v-2 in the back, which we did too often in the first half. Now you start gaining a little bit more territory, and now you can start being a little bit more dangerous. That's not something we did very well early on, which is disappointing because we talked about it for 10 days."
• The Wizards attack underwent another change in looks, with Wolff and Arnaud manning wide, attacking midfield positions with Claudio Lopez and Herculez Gomez playing more of the central striker spots. Jack Jewsbury returned to the lineup after missing the Toronto game with a concussion.
• "We got the ball out wide, and when you get wide it's the job of the guys in front of the goal to make good runs and put the backs under pressure. Jack [Jewsbury] had a good ball in, I just slammed the front post and got a piece and hit it with pretty good pace," Wolff said. "I was glad to see it go in, but we needed a few more of those plays tonight."
• It was Wolff's third goal in the last four games, though the Wizards have scored just two goals in their last three.
• "You need to have that precision in the final third. Our passing in the final third has not been good enough, and we need to address that and make sure it gets better," Onalfo said. "There are going to be times where you put away all your chances and times when you don't."
