FRISCO, Texas – Despite pouring on the scoring chances at Toyota Stadium, Columbus Crew SC failed again in their search for their first win of 2016 on Saturday night.
Crew SC left Texas with a 1-1 draw against FC Dallas despite generating significantly more dangerous opportunities than FCD.
“Dallas is a good team, and having said that, right now the guys feel like we gave away two points,” said Columbus head coach Gregg Berhalter. “And we feel like we should have scored multiple goals and won the game.”
Crew SC looked set to grab their elusive first win of the year for much of the match. Midfielder Justin Meram put Columbus ahead in the ninth minute, when he headed home a Federico Higuain corner kick to catch the Dallas defense off guard.
But from that point forward, Dallas ‘keeper Chris Seitz held Crew SC in check, registering five saves and thwarting a handful of good opportunities – including key stops on stars Kei Kamara and Ethan Finlay.
The missed opportunities came back to haunt Columbus in the 77th minute, when Tesho Akindele tapped home a loose ball into an empty net to pull Dallas level.
Being stymied by a hot goalkeeper is a familiar feeling for Crew SC, who Berhalter said have now faced three goalkeepers that have put in man of the match performances in their four games this season: Philadelphia’s Andre Blake, Portland’s Adam Kwarasey, and now Seitz.
“He did really well, and credit to him,” Berhalter said, of Seitz. “He has to put himself in position to make those saves, and you have to make them, and he did. I think we let them off the hook a little bit, and I think [Dallas head coach] Oscar [Pareja] will tell you the same thing. But that’s soccer.”
While he said Crew SC let Dallas off the hook, Berhalter also praised his team for being the aggressors much of the match.
“I think we did reasonably well to create some very good goal scoring opportunities,” Berhalter said. “I think some of the ball movement was very good, and we’re going to keep improving.”
One reason Crew SC were able to be the aggressors was the absence of Mauro Diaz, who failed a pregame fitness test, on the other side. Berhalter said Dallas lacked some of their creativity without their talented No. 10 – making Akindele’s late equalizer, which came after an unfortunate bounce from a Maxi Urruti shot that thwacked the right post, all the more painful.
But even though Crew SC have not won since last season’s Eastern Conference Championship, they’re not doubting their ability going forward.
“We believe in the process, and if I ask you if you think we’re a good team, you’d probably say yes. And we are,” Berhalter said. “We can do damage to teams whether it’s away or at our home in Columbus. We know that. I think once we hit our stride, we’re going to be pretty good.”
