COLUMBUS, Ohio—It’s been 10 MLS games and nearly three months since Columbus Crew SC last earned three points.
The team blew a 2-1 lead to New York City FC Saturday and seemed destined for a loss to the Eastern Conference leaders, but an Ethan Finlay equalizer at the death marked the second comeback of the night for the club, squaring a 3-3 draw at MAPFRE Stadium, leaving players and coach Gregg Berhalter happy with the late goal, but disappointed to not find a win.
Berhalter shook his head as he sat down for the post-match press conference, calling the match “confusing,” and saying he wasn’t pleased with referee Sorin Stoica “in general.”
“I never criticize referees publicly,” he said. “My only comment would be that I think the referee today played too big a role. We have some good teams out there trying to play good soccer, and from my perspective it was an entertaining game. I just think there was too much control by the referee – too much influence on the game.”
Both clubs were awarded penalty kicks in the match, including a call giving a spot kick to New York in second-half stoppage time for a hand ball on Crew SC’s Harrison Afful. Berhalter said Columbus “potentially could have had something similar” in the first half.
But Berhalter ultimately defended his team’s performance, saying his team forced New York defenders into “last-ditch defending at its finest.”
“I think the first half could have been one of our best halves of the year in terms of how we were playing, and we were unfortunate to go down,” he said. “In the second half, we got a little impatient. There were some time periods where we needed to keep the structure a little more.”
When asked about his team’s 10-match winless streak, Berhalter was surprised to hear the number, but not because it seemed high.
“It’s more than that, right?” he asked. “Is it 10? It feels like much longer.”
Finlay said that number isn’t affecting the players yet. Still seven points below the red line – trailing DC United, the New England Revolution and Orlando City SC – Finlay says the players are still fighting.
“We went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the East and probably the best team of the summer so far … and I felt like we dominated most of the game, especially in the first half,” he said. “I think there are a lot of positives to take out of it going forward, and until we’re mathematically out of this, we’re going to fight every second.”
Berhalter agrees, saying his team played some of its best soccer of the season in the draw.
“At this stage, it’s still the number seven,” he said of the points deficit. “We’ve got games in hand and we have to start winning. But when I see an effort like tonight, a performance like tonight, it makes me believe. It makes me believe that we can do it.”
