With the difference between a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs and an early end to the season razor thin this year, every point matters for the Columbus Crew.
Every goal celebrated to its fullest, and every mistake scrutinized to the extreme.
Yet, despite needing at least a point to keep pace with the rest of the playoff sides in the Eastern Conference, the Crew gave up another late goal and fell, for the third time this season, against Toronto FC.
The 3-2 defeat saw Columbus fall out of a playoff spot and into sixth place, tied on points with the Philadelphia Union who handled Montreal 2-1 to jump the Crew on the table.
After fighting back from one goal deficits twice, the Crew looked to take at least a point from the Canadian side, but a header from Luke Moore in the 84th minute saw Columbus off with nothing to show for its efforts.
The Crew aren’t newcomers to giving up late goals this season, as the club has dropped eight points on goals scored in the final 10 minutes of play this year.
Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter said following the match that the team did a good job of fighting back into the game after trailing the first two times, but asking a third equalizer was just too much.
“We had control of the game, but we ended up going 1-0 down and we had to fight back into the game,” Berhalter said. “It’s difficult when you put yourself in that position over and over again, to come back into the game. We showed the spirit to do it twice, but the third time we came up short.”
It was the third loss for the Crew against Toronto this season, including a 2-0 defeat at home in April, and Berhalter pointed out the things that Toronto does well hurt Columbus in all three matchups.
“They defend well in the box, they defend crosses well … They counter well and set pieces they’re good at. Those three components gave us trouble all three games. It’s a team for some reason or another we have a difficult time against.”
Toronto forward Gilberto opened the scoring in the 43rd minute with a low shot across goal that beat keeper Steve Clark. Just on the edge of halftime the Crew fought back, when Federico Higuain converted a penalty earned from a handball in the box.
After a hard fought first 15 minutes of the second half, Toronto took the lead again, this team on the boot of midfielder Jonathan Osorio.
Osorio collected a parried shot by Clark and calmly slotted into the open net for the 2-1 advantage.
The Crew would struggle to create any truly dangerous chances until the 82nd minute, when a cross by Justin Meram was misread by the keeper and curled in back post for one of the goals of the season.
Just two minutes later though Moore would secure the win with his fifth goal of the season.
“What can you do. You go down twice, come back twice and then you go down a third time, I don’t know if you can really make it back,” Meram said.
The match also saw the return of Dominic Oduro who joined Toronto from the Crew back in June. Meram said Oduro played well in his return to Crew Stadium, albeit for the opposing side.
“He’s got to do what he’s got to do, but I told him he looks the best he has all year. He fits their style really well and he had a great game,” Meram said of Oduro.
Next up Columbus will host the LA Galaxy next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Crew Stadium.
Subside Sports Man of the Match: Federico Higuain
Despite Justin Meram scoring a wonder goal to tie it up the second time, it was the midfield maestro Higuain who was the driving force behind Columbus’ attack all night. His corner balls were consistently excellent, and the penalty was perfectly taken for the first equalizer. He was also a couple of inches wide on two or three occasions from adding a second to his tally, including a beautiful chip that just missed the far post.
