In a disappointing display of poor defense and missed chances, the Sounders FC lost at home to the Columbus Crew by a 2-0 margin. Seattle maintained possession for the large majority of the match and tallied at least a dozen shots. Crew keeper Andy Gruenebaum was well placed for all of them and stopped two particularly deadly strikes from Fredy Montero.
After winning five straight games, the Sounders FC have not won one in the last three games, opening up the top position in the Western Conference for Real Salt Lake.
“Individual errors,” Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid stated. “We got to make this streak as short as possible and get out of it.”
Unless my eyes are deceiving me, then the Crew had no more than five shots during the match, two of which were goals. Either they are very good or very lucky.
The first goal came in the 15th minute as Adam Johansson failed to properly mark Justin Meram, who flashed from the far post to the near for an easy header. There was nothing Bryan Meredith could do to stop the well-timed run, assist, and header. Credit the goal to a lack of defensive positioning.
Following their first goal, the Crew proceeded to waste copious amounts of time laying on the ground and rolling around like a turtle on its back. While there is a definite strategy to wasting time when your team has the lead, the league needs to draw a boundary. Save the drama for the Italian league for all our sakes.
Near the end of the first half, Osvaldo Alonso chipped a ball to the far post for a wide open Alvaro Fernandez. With five feet to choose from on either side of the keeper, Fernandez decided to direct the ball completely off target. Eddie Johnson also had a few chances to score, but took one too many touches or was off balance. My opinion: Johnson is overrated; Seattle would be better off with the quick and nimble Michael Fucito up front.
The second goal for the Crew came in the 76th minute. A throw in was bouncing in between Emilio Renteria and several Sounders players. Renteria was perfectly poised for a volley off the bouncing ball from thirty yards out. Meredith was a few too many yards off of the line and was able to high-five the ball as it sailed into the net.
“You can’t get caught off your line,” Schmid added. “Right now we’re just making individual errors, and those individual errors are costing us, and people are punishing us for them.”
The Crew return home to Ohio to face the Chicago Fire on May 26, while the Sounders head to California to face Chivas USA on the same date.
