A fatigued LA Galaxy team were no match for the Columbus Crew as Guillermo Barros Schelotto’s group were blown out Wednesday evening at Mapfre Stadium. Both teams exchanges half chances early, and after the 15 minute mark it appeared LA had settled into the match with their usual dominating possession. That all changed in the 27th minute when lax marking from Rolf Feltscher gave Robinho the space from the left flank to curl in a beautiful cross for Hawthorne’s own Gyasi Zardes, who snaked between the center backs and poked a finish past David Bingham. Jonathan dos Santos pulled off with a knee injury and was subbed out with a precautionary measure before the half. As you might expect LA struggled to control the midfield without his presence, and it would be Frederico Higuain racing all alone in the middle of the park before blasting a low shot off the left post and in to double the Crew lead. Another former Galaxy player in Hector Jimenez made it 3-0 in the 66th minute before a late Daniel Steres goal spared LA’s blushes.<doc-sep>With LA’s seven match unbeaten streak done and dusted, how will Guillermo Barros Schelotto’s group respond in a mid-week clash Wednesday (4:30 PT, Spectrum SportsNet) vs. a reeling Columbus Crew? What to watch Potential squad rotation? Several starters showed fatigue during the Galaxy’s wild 3-2 loss to the Red Bulls, the first of three games in six days. This match is the perfect opportunity to introduce LA’s newest Tico to the starting lineup and perhaps rotate the fullbacks. The central midfield trio may have a tweak as well, in which case you might see a different formation Wednesday. A motivated opponent. Caleb Porter’s men have lost five straight matches and are staring down home games with both LA clubs this week. If that wasn’t motivation enough, just days ago the Crew were jobbed out of a perfectly legitimate goal vs. D.C. United thanks to referee incompetence. They’ll be ready to go. Speaking of watching...the game is currently not on tomorrow’s broadcast schedule. What gives? Apparently you need to download an app. How to watch Date/Time Wednesday May 8th 4:30 PT Venue Mapfre Stadium TV Spectrum SportsNet Streaming ESPN+<doc-sep>After weeks of struggle and five consecutive losses, Columbus Crew SC finally returned to winning ways as the team defeated the LA Galaxy 3-1 at MAPFRE Stadium on Wednesday. The Crew did a great job on both ends of the ball by denying an offense led by international star Zlatan Ibrahimovic relevant chances to score and at the same time finding the back of the net three times in front of its fans. Here is how each player performed in the team’s mid-week triumph: Zack Steffen (8) – The goalkeeper had a quiet and solid night for the most part, as he was only demanded from twice, one of them to stop a very dangerous header from Ibrahimovic. He was also very calm and smart to avoid a potential penalty kick when the Swedish forward tried to go around him inside the penalty box. He hesitated a little bit on the Galaxy goal, but it wasn’t entirely his fault. Hector Jimenez (8.5) – The veteran had one of his best performances in a while as he not only was steady as usual in the defensive end, but also showed up in the attacking third and took good care of the ball, connecting 83.8 percent of his passes. His great night was rewarded with his first goal since 2014 in one of his offensive runs. Jonathan Mensah (8) – The Ghanaian was very busy at the start of the match, when he helped the Crew to repel the Galaxy’s aerial plays. Jonathan used his size to head several balls outside the penalty box and ended the match with a team-high six clearances and also registered two tackles. Gaston Sauro (8.5) – The Argentinean reappeared in the lineup and did a tremendous job in denying Ibrahimovic space to operate inside the penalty box — he intercepted the Galaxy star as many as three times and blocked him twice. He also had the best passing rate among the starters, finding his teammates 90.6 percent of the time. Waylon Francis (7.5) – The Costa Rican was put under pressure on the defensive side of the ball and responded well, not giving the Galaxy opportunities to create from his side. Francis led the team in tackles with four and also connected well with Robinho when attacking. Wil Trapp © (8) – The captain was a stud in the midfield and, with the team playing more centrally than usual at times, had the ball on his feet a lot, registering a team-high 75 touches. He did a fine job in passing the ball, with an 89.9 percent accuracy, and was also effective defensively, with three tackles. Artur (7.5) – The Brazilian had his best match in some weeks as he combined his usual energy with good efficiency on and off the ball. Artur helped Trapp to dominate the center of the field with two tackles and two interceptions and also tried to help offensively with two shots, but he misplaced both. Pedro Santos (7) – For the first time on the season the Portuguese winger was the least dangerous players in the Crew’s front four, but that had more to do with good nights from his teammates than with a drop of performance from him. He had 54 touches and two shots, one of them near the end, when he failed to place the ball past David Bingham. Federico Higuain (9) – It was a night to see Pipa at his best. The Argentinean was quarterbacking the Crew’s offense with class and efficiency, especially when he combined with Robinho on the left side. He was very active, with 70 touches, and effective, connecting 88.7 of his passes and registering three key passes, including a helper to Zardes’ goal, which saw him break the club’s all-time assists record. His goal combined pace, intelligence and technique. Robinho (8.5) – The Brazilian was a constant threat to the Galaxy’s defense with his dribbling skills and his pace. His cross on Zardes’ goal was perfectly places and he didn’t stop there, leading the team in both key passes and shots, with five each. He also had three tackles. Gyasi Zardes (9) – The striker had a team-low 23 touches (less than David Guzman’s 25 in just 17 minutes), but he made the most of each of them. Zardes showed good presence in the 18-yard box to score the Crew’s first goal in a very important moment of the game and followed it up with a brilliant set up play and an assist to Higuain’s goal. He wasn’t always involved in the game but did everything you can expect from your striker. David Guzman (7) – The Costa Rican made his debut in a Black & Gold uniform and showed a limited sample of what Porter saw in him, passing the ball at an 91.3 percent efficiency rate and covering a lot of ground in midfield in just 17 minutes. Patrick Mullins (N/A) – The forward came in for Zardes with just nine minutes to go and registered just eight touches. Niko Hansen (N/A) – The winger replaced Santos at the 83rd-minute mark and didn’t really have time to do much. Caleb Porter (8) – The head coach remained loyal to his thoughts and to his players even under a very rough stretch and managed to pull out a very important and needed result. The next challenge will be keeping the same level of consistency, especially on the offensive end. He will have a couple of interesting pieces in Guzman and David Accam to work with from now on and it should be fun to see how we’ll use them.<doc-sep>Following up on a lackadaisical performance against the New York Red Bulls, the Galaxy couldn’t get anything moving against the Columbus Crew, and the defense decided to jump on the plane early. When Zlatan Ibrahimovic is standing at midfield trying to find the ball, you know you’ve got problems. Disaster struck when Jonathan Dos Santos went out with an injury; with Jonathan so critical to the Galaxy’s fortunes, his exit put the Galaxy defense in an even bigger bind. Rolf Feltscher needs to understand that incoming crosses do not have cooties. I can’t count the number of times he has stood so far off the ball he might as well be a traffic cone. And I have nothing more to say about Jorgen “ball-watching” Skjelvik. Coach’s decision to not include Traore or Araujo, and I don’t get it. The Galaxy miss Romain Alessandrini’s creativity, and Alvarez can’t come soon enough. Also wondering when Gonzalez gets off the bench, though that’s still unfair to Daniel Steres. Player ratings for a dud of a game against Columbus (nice game, Gyasi Zardes): You’re Welcome (aka, Excellent) · [crickets] Happy Lion (aka, Good) · [crickets] Sleeping Lion (aka, Okay) · Zlatan Ibrahimovic – after an ineffective first half where he dropped deeper and deeper for the ball, had a header stuffed by Steffen to start the second half. Shot just wide minutes after. · Daniel Steres – nice interception in the 16th minute. Critically blocked a shot two minutes later. Scored a consolation goal after getting free in the box (he’s been good at this of late!). He would normally have been in the good category, but the Galaxy gave up three goals. Man of the match. · Chris Pontius – not very active offensively, shut down by the Crew’s defense. · Jonathan Dos Santos – when he went down injured my response was “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! !” Columbus scored through the hole he left in the second half. Not good, and he better get well soon. · Sebastian Lletget – had an assist on Steres’s goal. Was active, but couldn’t penetrate the Crew’s wall. · Emil Cuello – late sub. The Lion Roars (aka, Poor) · Joe Corona – Was part of a midfield that Columbus waltzed through. Sorely missed Dos Santos as a partner. · Rolf Feltscher – to blame on the first Crew goal for standing about a million miles from the ultimate cross that led to the goal. · Diego Polenta – Not a good game for Diego after a slew of many good ones. Beat by Zardes on a great play by Gyasi in the first half (we all knew Zardes was going to score, right?). Also beat by a Zardes pass in the second half for the Crew’s second goal. His passing chart is a sea of red. · Jorgen Skjelvik – scuffed a shot in the 14th minute that should have been goal bound. Columbus kept abusing his side, but the worst was him literally standing around watching the goal go in for the Crew’s third. Awful. · Servando Carrasco – out of position for Columbus’s second goal. · Uriel Antuna – not accurate with his passing. · David Bingham – didn’t cover himself in glory on Higuain’s goal, and was weak on the other two as well. Didn’t command his box. Two back to back poor games. · Emmanuel Boateng – had very few touches after he came on, and not very good ones.<doc-sep>
Columbus Crew SC finally got the bounces to go their way tonight in a stellar fashion against LA Galaxy. The 3-1 win was well earned as all phases of the pitch really put in a strong performance in a crucial moment for the club. A controversial fifth straight loss to D.C. United last week could really have served as a make-or-break moment for this team. From this past week and this match, it looks like the squad has really used it as a rallying point. Whether that is the case longterm remains to be seen but Wednesday was certainly a good start to a turnaround. Here is what we learned: A night in the history books for Pipa Federico Higuain became the Crew’s all-time leader in assists with a secondary assist on the opening goal from Gyasi Zardes. Pipa’s 62nd assist puts him above former Black & Gold coach and player Robert Warzycha in the club’s record book. Pipa certainly came alive in this match, several times showing flashes of his younger self. Columbus’ second goal came on a great run onto a layoff from Zardes. Higuain sped past the Galaxy’s players and put a strike low into the back of the net. His work rate and intensity in this match shows just how dangerous the Argentinian continues to be. After the match, head coach Caleb Porter commented on how Higuain’s one of the best professionals he’s ever worked with and how he is a rare guy who has quality and puts in the work day in and day out. Different methods of attack A frustrating theme from the past five matches was just how stagnant the Crew’s attack continued to be. Columbus seemed to rely too much on crossess and set pieces for offensive production while being lackluster in creating from the run of play. With only nine goals scored in 11 matches this season, something had to change for the Black & Gold. Crew fans saw glimpses of those changes starting to take place against D.C. but the bounces (and refereeing) just didn’t go their way. In Wednesday’s match, the opposite was true. Columbus scored and put on offensive pressure in a variety of ways. From the onset, the wingers looked lively and were connecting in open space with Higuain and the rest of the midfield. The passing and runs off the ball paid off in the 27th minute as a pass from Higuain found Robinho out on the wing whose cross found Zardes’ foot to put the Crew ahead. The second goal came on a beautiful build up as Zardes received the ball and laid off to Higuain who finished off a long dribble past the LA defense with a strike by the outstretched goalkeeper. The final goal came from a bit of chaos. Zardes was tackled in the box but Hector Jimenez was right there to clean up the loose ball and put it in the back of the net against his former club. Outside of the goals, the Black & Gold were lively in their passing and took advantage of their space, which is a welcomed change from performances that left a lot to be desired over the past month. As Porter continues to put more of his touch on the team, and with recent additions, I only see this trend continuing to improve. Fullbacks had a standout performance It goes without saying but Columbus has missed Harrison Afful. Since the right back suffered a broken jaw against Atlanta United, there has been a significant change on the attacking production we have seen from the fullbacks. Don’t get me wrong, Jimenez is a quality player and can certainly fill in when needed but the Black & Gold had yet to see a complete performance from both Jimenez and Waylon Francis in the same match. That changed against Galaxy. Both players were active on both ends of the pitch. On defense, they helped the center backs keep Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the rest of the LA attack at an arm’s length. The only goal came from uncharacteristic set piece defending as the Crew was caught sleeping on a late corner. On the offensive end, Jimenez was able to get his first goal of the season and Francis was also able to link up with Robinho on the wings throughout the match. What stood out to you or what should we have learned from Wednesday’s match?