The Columbus Crew quest for a repeat MLS Cup championship will ride on tonight's First Round playoff decider against Real Salt Lake at Crew Stadium (8pm, ESPN2).
The Crew will need to erase a 1-0 deficit from its first-leg loss at Rio Tinto Stadium to do win the series, and will welcome back reigning MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who is expected to start after being benched for the first game.
Columbus will be be banking on the home-field advantage it enjoys at Crew Stadium, where the club was 9-2-4 this season. As strong as Columbus has been at home all season, and as bad as Real Salt Lake has been on the road (2-11-2 this year, good for second most losses and second fewest points recorded on the road), the Crew must try to jump-start an offense that has gone five straight matches without scoring multiple goals.
Putting Schelotto in the lineup should be a good start, even though Crew head coach Robert Warzycha has made it clear that he hasn't been impressed with Schelotto's form in recent weeks. As much as he has struggled, this is the playoffs and there's no player in this series with as many championships, trophies and medals won as Schelotto, so it shouldn't be assumed that his regular season struggles will carry over to playoff crunch time.
RSL will be hoping it can find an early goal to put the pressure on Columbus' struggling attack, and it has the players to net that early goal in Robbie Findley, Yura Movsisyan and Clint Mathis. Findley proved to be a handful for Columbus in the first leg and his speed will be key to unsettling the Crew defense, which will need two-time MLS defender of the year Chad Marshall to lock down RSL's goal-scoring leader.
Real Salt Lake's defense will be facing much more pressure than in game one, and will need to improve on its late-season road record. RSL finished 1-4 and allowed 10 goals in its final five road matches, with the only success coming against offensively-challenged Kansas City.
The key for RSL will be Jamison Olave and Nat Borchers dealing with the tricky tandem of Schelotto and Alejandro Moreno. Olave and Borchers kept Schelotto under wraps when RSL routed Columbus, 4-1, on April 2, but that was seven months ago and that took place at Rio Tinto as opposed to Crew Stadium.
Columbus should go after RSL with speed, and Warzycha has the options to put a fast lineup on the field with the likes of Emilio Renteria and Emmanuel Ekpo at his disposal. With Steven Lenhart heading back to the bench, Columbus should revert back to a more ball-control attack rather than using the aerial assault that proved largely ineffective in Game One.
What do you see happening tonight? Think RSL can pull off the upset? See Schelotto showing us why he's the reigning league MVP? Can you see this one going to penalty kicks?
Share your thoughts on tonight's match below (and feel free to make this your place to share in-game comments on tonight's match.).
Ives Galarcep is an American soccer columnist for ESPNsoccernet.com and creator of SoccerByIves.net.
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