Chivas USA at Columbus Crew: Your Running Commentary

The Columbus Crew will be looking to erase the memories of last week's lackluster performance against the Red Bulls, but it won't be easy against a Chivas USA team that has managed to get results despite not playing its best soccer.

Crew Stadium won't have an army of visiting fans so look for the Crew to be pushed by a home team eager to see its team show the form that helped Columbus win the season opener against Toronto FC.

Chivas USA has managed four points from two games without Ante Razov and with Maykel Galindo still working his way back to fitness. The Goats will look to test a Crew defense that has plenty of question marks heading into the season.

If you are watching the Crew-Chivas USA match and will be online then please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play from the match in the comments section below.

Enjoy the soccer.

Comments

[Galaxy Fan 08]

Go Crew!!!

[Nic]

Wow, another underwhelming crowd at Crew stadium. And before anyone says anything, I don't care about the weather. Crew fans always have excuses about why no one goes to their games. MLS would be well served by moving the team to an area that will support soccer.

Mssrs. Saputo and Gillett, are you paying attention?

[eric]

Anyone watching? Scoreboard says that 2 Chivas players tossed in the 84th? What is this madness?

[Brant]

I just got back from the game. The "madness" was Ricardo Salazar as your referee...

I've got it on TiVo and I want to see why Padula got a yellow card near the end, since it appeared to be for dissent. But only moments before, Kliejstan was screaming at the ref and got nothing.

Both of Chivas' red cards were players that picked up 2d yellows. The first red card was a borderline card. The 2d (on Kliejstan) was for taking Schellotto's legs out from under him after the ball was gone.

The weather didn't help the crowd, but neither had crappy teams for the last 3 years. What'll bring the crowds back will be a team that doesn't lose stupid games like they managed to the last 2 years.

[Brant]

I'll comment as I watch, but it's tape-delayed... :)

[Brant]

4-4-2 for both. Columbus hasn't let go of the Danny-O'Rourke-at-center-back yet.

For those of you who don't remember, Salazar was the ref last year in the Crew-Revs game when Andy Herron tried to remove Jay Heaps jaw with his elbow. Heaps had been beating on Columbus' forwards all night and Salazar didn't do anything about, so Herron did. Will we see a problem tonight?

Columbus has Padula in the starting lineup. Gino Padula is an Argentinian brought in to help shore up the defense. He's not a replacement for Marcos Gonzales, as he's a wingback, not a centerback.

From the stands, if Hejduk and Padula traded jerseys you wouldn't be able to tell them apart: slender builds, long hair, never stop running.

[Brant]

The new stage behind the north goal in the stadium looks like crap. I have no idea why you'd rip out the seats of your most ardent supporters and replace them with a giant concrete edifice with no character or feeling to it. It does give the dance team somewhere to stand during play, though, and a lil' eye candy never hurt.

[Brant]

The crowd wasn't huge, but the Hudson Street Hooligans drum section didn't slow down until about 18-19 minutes into the game.

Lots of back and forth play, but neither team holding position for long. Both teams trying for quick strikes off of longish balls. About 3-4 touches, and then chip into the middle.

Oddly enough, the sideline reporter was talking about how Sigi's plan was to try to hold possession. I have no idea what the possession stats on this game were, but it wasn't until the Crew were trying to kill the game that they started trying to hold possession for an extended time.

8:00 mark and lots of pinball so far.

[Brant]

Chivas is just throwing long balls forward and trying to find someone to win it in the air. I guess they didn't get the memo that Marshall's back, and Carroll's back there, too.

[Brant]

Bornstein looks good in possession, but he seems reluctant to make many overlapping runs. Oddly, Bornstein and Hejduk keep running into each other.

Long shot from Robbie Rogers that amounted to basically nothing.

[Brant]

Long punt that Padula couldn't handle. Tried to head back to Hesmer, but not enough on the backpass and Hesmer has to make a great save on a Chivas shot.

11:30 Mendoza yellow card for taking down Schelotto after the corner kick is cleared.

[Brant]

14min
Crew gets a corner kick and Chivas' counter on the clear looks like a jailbreak. Attack stops when Marshall wrestles down Mendoza and Chivas argues for a card.

[Brant]

15 min

Padula takes down Pozniak and Chivas free kick is basically a corner kick... As it's right in front of the hooligans, the ball is pelted with streamers.

17min
Northwest light tower loses half its lights.

[Brant]

17 min
Northeast light tower loses half its lights

18min
Northeast tower loses the rest of its lights.

[Brant]

Salazar stops play to talk to coaches about the lights. Play holds up for about 3-4 minutes while they discuss it. Play continues before the lights are back on, but they do eventually come back.

Meantime, everyone takes a water break and some players don parkas for the wait.

[Brant]

19 minute - game on. A lot of rough, chippy play as every possession is challenged hard from behind.

[Brant]

20min

First of several bad offsides calls by the ref working south side. At least he was consistently bad.

[Brant]

22min
Columbus dodges a bullet as Moffatt clears one off a line after Kliejstan takes down Marshall with a power move straight outta WWE. Ball caroms out to the front right corner of the 18 box and Gaven and Bornstein collide going for it. Neither gets it, but Bornstein makes the more dramatic flop and the result is a yellow card for Gaven. 2d card of the evening, and Salazar is in rare form.

[Brant]

On the replay, it looks like Bornstein kicked the ball, and his momentum carried him into Gaven, who was trying to dodge him. It's like calling a blocking foul on a guy trying to move out of the lane on a layup.

[Brant]

23min
Curtain knocks Schelloto over. Crew fans want a foul, but with Salazar as the ref, that'll only draw a whistle if it draws blood.

[Brant]

24min lights are back on

[Brant]

25min
Curtin rolls up over Moreno's back on a ground ball thru the box from Rogers.

The most fouled man in the league (two years running!) draws a PK for the Crew, and GBS coolly buries it. Guzan dives to his right, GBS puts is just barely to Guzan's left.

[Brant]

27min
more long balls out of the back for Chivas.
Marsch down for the Goats and ball out of play.

Chivas not linking through the midfield well at all, and forced to bomb down the flanks.
Normally not a great plan, but Columbus' wingbacks tend to run up a lot and it's not hard to get behind them.

[Brant]

Close-up of Padulla, who looks sort of like a before-he-shaved Gaius Baltar from Battlestar Galactica.

[Brant]

29min
Chivas pushing forward, but can't string too many passes together. Funny to watch Kliejstan try to outrun Robbie ROgers.

[Brant]

31min
Nice cross to Gaven on right side in open space, but Gaven air-mails the cross over everything.

[Brant]

32min

Chivas gets off an intentional shot for 25 yards.
Hesmer saves easily, but goes down to his right to make sure the cameramen get a dramatic action shot.

[Brant]

33min
Chivas string together 8-9 passes that result in a sweet, sweet goal from Kleijstan, followed by a goofy kung-fu celebration.

Kliejstan gets a simple drop just to the left of the half-circle on the 18box and curls a nice ball into the opposite netting, right around Hesmer, who just admired it going by.

[Brant]

Columbus comes right back with a cross from GBS that lands in the middle of 7 Chivas players.

[Brant]

35min
GBS gets a nice diagonal ball through the defense from Moreno. Curtin catches up to him (like that's hard or something) but GBS holds it beautifully and lets an unmarked Moreno catch up, lays him a simple square ball, and Moreno buries the goal.
Free cookies for everyone.

[Brant]

37min
Bornstein mugs Moreno as he's about to break thru the defense. The commentators rightly point out that Marshall's foul earlier should've also been a card, as Bornstein is booked.

GBS's cross sails. Lay off the Wheaties.

[Brant]

39min
Dangerous back pass to Guzan, with 3 Crew players all in the way. They were so stunned that it happened they didn't have a chance to get to it.

[Brant]

40min
Curtin goes over the top of Moffat like he's trying to catch a ride on his back, then wonders why he's whistled for the foul.

Moffat comes back with a shot trying to recreate his week 1 goal that didn't need to be taken.

[Brant]

Funny to watch GBS try to sprint. You could probably time him with a sundial.

[Brant]

42min
Last few minutes have been a lot of pinball, with the occasional backpass to the GKs, followed by a long bomb and some more pinball.

[Brant]

43min

Chivas manage to string together 6 passes for the 2d time tonight

[Brant]

Commentators just described Kliejstan's goal as a "wonderful solo effort"... it was anything but. It was a beautiful team build-up of one-touch passes and smart positioning.

[Brant]

three minutes extra time. seems short given the problems with the lights.

[Brant]

Chivas has managed to string together a lot of 4- or 5-pass triangle combos, but by the time they're done with it, they've gone forward about 10meters, and either Carroll or O'Rourke blow it up.

45+min
Moffat carded for hard challenge on Kleijstan, who flies about like a stuntman, but was actually wacked pretty hard.

Free kick hits the wall, and.... HALFTIME.

[Brant]

(less detail coming after the half... wanting to get to bed at some point :P )

[Brant]

The referee garb is gray with flashes of neon orange here and there. They look a bit like they escaped from Tron, the classic 1982 virtually-reality-before-anyone-knew-what-it-was movie (yes, I went there...)

[Brant]

Gallardo subs on for 2d half for Savage.

No sign of Razov. I guess he knows the fans here would, uh, "Raz" him if he shows his face.

[Brant]

46min
Quick chip over the back line for the Crew, but 3 guys all offsides. Even an American ref could make that call right.

[Brant]

Sideline reporter talked to Sigi going off the field at halftime, and even he admitted there was nothing the Crew could do about Chivas' goal.

48min, nice cross from Rogers, headed by Gaven to GBS who makes diving header shot right at Guzan. Nice quick, touch soccer, but no goal.

GBS definitely on his game tonight.

[Brant]

49min
GBS launches corner kick halfway to the airport, and Hejduk runs it down. The resulting pinball looks like much of the rest of the game.

[Brant]

50min
Padula takes a Kleijstan elbow off the face on an aerial 50-50 ball.
Play stops for the trainer, and on restart, Crew taps ball back to Guzan.

[Brant]

The Crew might have the slowest striker combination (Moreno - GBS) of any team that doesn't include me.

[Brant]

54min
Nice pass on the wing to Carroll who makes touch cross to Rogers, who hits Guzan in the gut.

[Brant]

Crew able to push a lot of diagonal ground balls through Chivas defense, and a more experienced Crew (get it, "crew" - I kill me) than Gaven, Moffatt, and Rogers would probably have another 2-3 goals by now.

Think about the Crew's lineup.. Out of Moffatt, Gaven, Rogers, Marshall, and O'Rourke, they've only got 1 guy over 25.

[Brant]

57min.
Rogers onside when ball is kicked. Behind defense when he gets it. Linesman can't tell the difference = offsides

[Brant]

Chivas doing a lot of chasing and not a lot of buildup. Can't keep possession for more than 3-4 passes, and it's not Crew tackling, but Chivas rushing passes as the Crew start to challenge.

[Brant]

60min
Crew hooligans are starting to taunt Guzan, who's goal is in their north end.

Braun for Harris for Chivas.

[Brant]

You can't point to any one play that Carroll has made to make the Crew play any better, but he's holding possession better than Marsch or any of the other Chivas guys.
The Crew seem more settled and Chivas seem to be chasing/forcing more.

[Brant]

60min
Chivas have yet to take a shot this half.

[Brant]

63min
Ball out of bound off Kliejstan and he yells at Salazar and then flings the ball petulantly out of bounds. Moffatt blasts a shot a Guzan that he has to make a wrong-footed kick-save. Definitely one for the highlight file.
If Kleijstan isn't already carrying a card, he'd've gotten one on that throw-in, but Salazar was probably reluctant to red-card him over immature behavior.

[Brant]

65min
Ebert for Pozniak for Chivas (sp? on names)

[Brant]

68min
Marsch gets a yellow card. Gaven had tackled Mendoza and taken the ball - could've easily been a foul on Gaven but not called. Marsch was standing around with his hands up trying to get a foul on Gaven. When Gaven dribbled past Marsh, he hammered Gaven to the ground and got the card.

[Brant]

71min
GBS one-touch pass (guess what? diagonal ground ball) right thru the defense, that leaves Ebert falling over trying to turn around. Rogers gets behind the defense 1-on-1 with Guzan and buries it on the near post when he saw Guzan lean far post.
3-1 Crew.

[Brant]

That last play showed 3 things about this game:

1. Schelotto is just smarter than everyone else on the field. He's seeing passes that no one else is.
2. Rogers is a lot faster than you realize. There are times he seems to teleport around the field.
3. The Chivas back line is playing flat and paying for it. Their centerbacks can't cover the wings because they're too far forward.

[Brant]

72min
O'Rourke challenged first guy on the ball, and missed, and Marsch ran in behind him, catching Marshall out of position. 1-on-1 with Hesmer, Marsch hits side netting with a touch shot

Crew defense took a coffee break thinking the game was won with a 3-1 lead.

[Brant]

Chivas start acting childish about the kickoff. GBS wants them to line up *outside* the center circle (I know, the nerve of him!) and they're yelling at him to kick off already. The Crew never kick it off, but Chivas run in and try to steal it when the whistle blows, then get mad when Columbus take the ball back.

[Brant]

75min
Schelotto draws a foul when he's sandwiched between 2 Chivas defenders.

[Brant]

75min
Padula shown a yellow for, I dunno, having a mustache. He wasn't delaying on the ball; didn't try to sneak it forward another few feet; and wasn't mouthing off. No idea what it was about.
Commentators said it was "delay" but no idea how.

[nelson]

sweet, crew win 4-3.

awesome game for crew fans.

[Brant]

Every time Guzan takes a free kick or goal kick, the hooligans yell out very loudly "you suck asshole"

[Brant]

77min
Chivas starting to string together some passes.

[Brant]

Crew seem to do a lot better pushing the ball to the wings than Chivas. The Goats seem to want to stay in the middle 25m or so of the field, while Columbus has Rogers and Gaven living along the sidelines.

[Brant]

78min
Nagamura gets the ball at the top of the 18 and the Crew take a smoke break, allowing him to launch a shot that Hesmer gets a hand on, but can't stop.

3-3, tie game, 10 minutes + stoppage.

[Brant]

Replay makes it look like Hesmer could've done better with that ball and that he just wasn't anticipating the shot.

[Brant]

Both keepers have played well, even though it's 3-3. Most of the goals have been breakdowns by the defenders rather than screw-ups by the GKs.

[Brant]

Big cross from Hejduk in back right to Rogers on front left.
He controls past the defender and lets one rip, that skips past Guzan who leans the wrong way.

That one was totally Guzan's fault.

[Brant]

83min
Red card for Medoza
A hard sliding challenge on Gaven on the sideline well after the ball is gone and he gets a 2d yellow.
He knew it, too. He was most of the way to the locker room before the card came out.

84min
Kleijstan takes out GBS's legs.
Mendoza is probably still in the tunnel, and Kleijstan's about to join him with a straight red. (I think I said earlier that Kliejstan was playing with a yellow, but I was wrong)

Somehow Gallindo and Nagamura didn't get any cards for dissent, even though they were both in Salazar's face, and Gallindo looked like he was about to wrestle Salazar to the ground.

GBS was still on the field this late, too, despite Sigi traditionally subbing him around the 70th min.

[Brant]

so with 6 minutes and stoppage time, Chivas is down 1 goal and 2 men.

They're still attacking, tho, and given Columbus's track record (like losing to KC last year despite taking a lead into end-of-game stoppage time) you can't count on this being safe.

Crew about to bring on Miglioranzi
Padula still on the field, tho Sigi said he was only likely to play 60 minutes.

[Brant]

87min
Migs for Moffatt

[Brant]

90min
Rogers on the wing in the same place he scored goal #3 for the Crew, and instead of shooting, dribbles to the corner to kill time.

four minutes of stoppage time

[Brant]

91min
Schelott tries to curl into far post like Kliejstan did earlier. Guzan handles.

[Brant]

92min

Ezra for Gaven

GBS and Padula play the whole game.

[Brant]

93min
GBS dribbling the corner and just abusing Curtin. Looks like the Globetrotters dribbling around Curtin and when Curtin finally gets help pinning GBS in the corner, GBS just backheels it thru their legs and draws the foul as they sandwich him in the middle.

[Brant]

GBS booked for interfering with a free kick, but it's game over as soon as it's kicked.

4-3 Crew and GBS for MVP

Rogers is Man of the Match with 2 goals and a lot of running.

[Tom]

Nice to see the Crew defend their turf. The young and old players are really starting to meld-making for entertaining soccer. Now if the fans would show up for something other than a Buckeye game.

[Spencer]

Well I didn't see the Kljestan foul. But I can't say I am suprised. I remember watching the U-23s and he always had some very wreckless tackles from behind. None that he has any excuse for doing. I hope he gets fined. He needs to grow up and play right.