Crystal Palace came into today’s game having only played one preseason game in Austria which ended in a 13-1 rout, but tonight’s game proved to be a much tougher proposition against a Columbus side midway through their season. The game ended in a 2-2 draw with good things shown by both sides.
The Crew started the game much the better side, keeping possession and making the Palace players work hard without the ball. The early dominance nearly lead to the opening goal after a Agustin Viana header hit the post from a free kick on the left side.
The opening goal did come on 15 minutes when Eric Gehrig found himself high up the pitch on the right and delivered a delightful swinging cross that found the head of the 6’7’’ Adam Bedell to apply the finishing touch. This goal would have been exactly what Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter would want from this match, giving Bedell, fresh from his first start for Columbus on Saturday, confidence in front of goal.
As the half went on the Palace players were starting to get up to pace of the game and were enjoying more possession. The equalizer finally came on 36 minutes from a left field cross the found a free Glenn Murray to head home.
The second half began very disjointed after four changes for the Crew at halftime and Palace making 10 changes in the first 15 minutes of the half. The Crew’s changes included a pair of fullbacks, Ben Sweat and Ross Friedman with the latter making his professional debut with the Crew after time with USL PRO affiliate Dayton Dutch Lions.
Palace were looking the better side after the substitutions and Jake Gray made it 2-1 on 70 minutes after a Marouane Chamakh header hit the post and Gray beat Tyson Wahl to the loose ball to sweep in the rebound.
The Crew leveled the game 10 minutes later after a floating diagonal ball from Viana was met by the onrushing Daniel Paladini and his deft header floated in at the far post. Palace responded and had their chances to win the game, but were unable to apply the finish with Scott Dann coming the closest, but his header was athletically saved by Matt Lampson between the Crew’s posts.
Columbus will take a lot of positives from the match. First and foremost, they had the opportunity to give some players currently playing in Dayton some minutes tonight with 2nd half substitute Matt Walker impressing in the midfield. He looked very composed on the ball, always looking to receive the ball and had an eye for a pass. He’s definitely a future name to look for. Viana also impressed in the midfield, coming close to scoring on two occasions in addition to setting up the equalizer. He hopes to be pushing for a start with his last coming over a month ago on June 7th.
For Palace, they continue their stateside tour to prepare for the daunting task of opening the Premier League season away to Arsenal on the 16th of August.
Bedell, our Subside Sports Man of the Match, is having a bit of a hot streak in front of goal at the moment. The young striker has made the most of his opportunities, going from an untested rookie to a recent fixture in the Crew lineup. It looks like Berhalter and his technical staff have found a gem in Bedell, who last played for Detroit City FC in the NPSL.
