Crew remain unbeaten in Columbus after busy week

It wasn't always pretty, but it ended up being effective. Columbus looked a lot better in the early part of their week putting a 3-1 drubbing on Atlanta on Wednesday evening. Sunday's game with Philadelphia in town was a lot less convincing, but just as productive earning a 1-0 victory over Eastern conference leader Philadelphia. All-in-all it was a huge week as the Crew picked up all 6 points while defending their fortress as they've looked to get their season back on the rails. After riding this three game win streak it's put Columbus firmly back in contention for the lead in the East sitting just three points behind the Union. While it's not the prettiest of soccer, grinding out victories in times where the play is less than ideal is something to hang their hats on, at the end of the day getting three points is what matters and it's what they've done now three games running. I'll give a brief breakdown from what I saw from the Crew this past week.

Took Atlanta out early

Wednesday's performance looked much livelier than what you'd expect to see out of a mid-week game. Columbus looked intent on imposing their will early and often, seemed they were more than ready after an 11 day layoff from the prior match. After dominating the game from the starting whistle it wasn't until the 23rd minute they were able to break through. Up until that first goal the scenes were very familiar, attacking players complete inability to finish around the goal. Daniel Gazdag found himself wide open on the back post, but was unable to deal with the ball coming in across the box acting as if he was surprised it got to him. While it would've been a tough one-time shot, it seemed as if he just wasn't ready and he was being reactionary to the entire play. Which seems to still be the case, he's letting the game happen to him instead of attacking the game. By the time he settled the ball and got a shot off the defense recovered and was able to block his attempt. Then there was Dylan Chambost who did very well in getting through the back line of Atlanta with a bit of fortune, and was able to beat Brad Guzan on the dribble but then pushed his shot wide on the near post while staring at a wide open net. It was a great play to get through but in the end was an inexplicable miss. Jacen Russell-Rowe also had his turn early in the game on a well weighted finesse through ball by Diego Rossi, but he was unable to control it on the way to goal while holding off a defender and Guzan was able to shut it down.

As has been the case for this team more often than not lately it wasn't until Andres Herrera from the wingback position was able to break through in the 23rd minute with a nice display of quality. A well timed long ball by Chambost was played in over the top and Herrera displayed an elegant first touch bringing it down perfectly and finishing on his next touch. A number of missed chances by strikers, goals scored by either the midfield or center backs, that's been the narrative for this team seemingly all season long to this point. Less than 10 minutes later is when striker Russell-Rowe left an imprint in an impressive display of one-on-one work he was able to unlock a shooting lane against tight defending and beat Guzan on a nice finish near post. It's the type of goal he's capable of, but has yet to shown a level of consistency in doing so. Then 10 minutes following Russell-Rowe's goal he was able to find his brace after a bad turnover by Philadelphia in their defensive third led to Rossi slotting a short pass to Jacen who again made no mistake about it. Atlanta clawed one back in the second half but the game was never really in doubt as the Crew dominated in both shots and possession. Really the score line could've looked a lot worse for the visitors, but in the end the three points are what matter. It was an impressive display for Columbus who created chance after chance in dominant fashion, which was nice to see for a Wednesday evening.

No style points in sloppy win against Philadelphia

Columbus followed up their dominant performance on Wednesday by squeaking out a 1-0 victory Sunday evening which had far less highlights. It was a very sloppy game on both sides with a number of turnovers, careless loss of possession in the midfield saw neither team generate many chances at all in the first half. One of the few chances was created entirely by the network of center backs and midfield combination play, per usual, for the Crew. It was Amar Sejdic, who played admirably, finding Lassi Lappalianen down the left wing who then struck a beautiful one-time cross screaming across the box which only required one touch by Mo Farsi to finish. It was a very well crafted goal from the Sejdic-Lappalainen-Farsi combination. One thing of note in that buildup, no named strikers. Another goal with no striker contribution. This can be a positive however as it shows the creativity, ability and depth of Columbus to be able to buoy their reluctant striker production with borderline elite level production from the supporting positions. It's a bit unorthodox, but it's how this team has been running really since match week two. After going up 1-0 going into the half, a weather delay came and took the air out seemingly for Philadelphia who struggled to get anything going offensively.

Regarding player performances, it was very sloppy on a lot of parts but there were a couple bright spots. Lappalainen continues to impress as he attacks his wingplay with enthusiasm and has shown high quality on crosses while displaying good ability to use his quickness to get by defenders. He reads the game well, makes good decisions and creates good opportunities when he gets involved. It was an impressive performance overall for him. Amar Sejdic is another one who didn't seem to be on the ball a lot, but made his imprint on the game with his aggressiveness in defending, winning possession back for the Crew on a number of occassions. He displayed good vision a few times too with his ability to see plays develop and break multiple lines through the defense. Sean Zawadski and Stephen Moreira however were the stars of the show. Moreira displayed his one-on-one defensive chops a number of times winning multiple duels on the right side. Zawadski was also in control of the defense as he's come into his own in that role. He's playing with supreme confidence and looks the part. Sunday's victory can be attributed to the defensive work as well as the midfield combination play. It was an ugly game, but a game the Crew had to have. They've now collected four points off the top team in the East and that is definitely something to wear proudly because it proves this team is still right there in the mix for best in the conference.

Since the International break Columbus has now won three straight games. Granted they've all been at home, but business still needs to be taken care of and they've done just that. They will now go on the road for three straight games, which will be a vital stretch and could shape what the playoff run would look like. Surely they'll need their strikers and big name players to step up and take as many points as possible until they return home on July 20. One important thing to note is the Summer transfer window for the MLS starts July 24. If Columbus has ambitions of competing for another cup title run it sure feels like they'll need to bring in a high level striker. They have 10 games remaining once that summer transfer window opens so it'd be important to bring in someone of a high enough quality to overcome having to "fit into" the system. A lot of season left and so much can still happen, but the team has fought hard to this point, the guys are giving it their all and working hard there can be no doubt about that. At this point it becomes a question of quality in the attack, and getting that resolved even if just a little bit before the end of the season. I'm confident Wilfried Nancy and Issa Tall will work together to address that concern. Until then, any game the Crew can look as sloppy as they did on Sunday and still get three points still works. Three points is three points at the end of the day, but they'll certainly need to shore that up, especially as this team gets closer to gearing up for a playoff run.