Epps’ breakthrough showed team’s willingness to adjust
CHESTER » The prime takeaway from the Union’s 1-0 loss in Columbus last Saturday was a dearth of attacking life.
The zero on the scoreboard can happen for a variety of reasons and invariably does a half-dozen or more times a season. But the three shots that the Union posted at Mapfre Stadium set a franchiselow, one of just four times in franchise history in which the Union went without a shot on goal.
By himself, Marcus Epps sought to rectify that Wednesday night in the back half of a homeand-home. And the rookie’s payoff was his first MLS goal, capping a 3-0 demolition of the Crew in a rambunctious affair.
“I was getting frustrated for a minute,” Epps said. “But my mindset from the beginning of the game was to get shots off and be aggressive in attacking in the final third, so I’m just happy one of them went in the net.”
Epps fired eight shots Wednesday, one shy of a franchise gamehigh mark. His fusillade contributed to 27 Union shots, also one short of the most prolific evening in team history.
Long-term, the inconsistency of a 24-shot difference four days apart against an essentially identical Crew side might be alarming (though a pair of red cards no doubt contributed). In the shortterm, it harkens to a willingness to adjust. The lack of directness of play from Epps and others Saturday was one of the most emphasized points in the three days of training hence.
“I thought that Ilsinho and Marcus did a really good job giving us width tonight,” manager Jim Curtin said. “It’s something we worked on. In Columbus we were kind of narrow and made it easy on their back three to kind of stay 20 yards from each other and not go out to the wide areas. I think they executed that really well tonight. The message at halftime was to continue to go 1-v-1 when we get you out in those isolated areas. Marcus I think responded very well to that in the second half, Ilsinho as well.”
Epps tagged the outside of the post with a curling shot in the first half, having beaten Crew goalie Zack Steffen. He fired wide on a couple of occasions early in the second half, the Union (7-95, 26 points) seizing the initiative with the Crew reduced to 10 men thanks to Jonathan Mensah’s 35th-minute red for denial of a goalscoring opportunity and the attendant penalty-kick brouhaha.
Finally, the second round SuperDraft pick dialed in the sights in the 81st, one-timing a knocked down header by CJ Sapong back across the face of goal into the far side netting.
“(Oguchi Onyewu) found me in a good spot, played it to Ilsinho (who) played a good ball to CJ and CJ did great to win his challenge and I followed up and tried to get on the end of it,” Epps said. “I’m happy about that and excited to get the first one for the team and myself.”
The aggregate of Epps’ performances reflects those around him. Saturday’s setback was, to use Alejandro Bedoya’s words, “a boring ass game,” where the Union handed Epps and Adam Najem their first MLS starts. Without Roland Alberg due to suspension and Sapong and Fafa Picault due to injury, the front four had a grand total of four MLS starts this season in the positions they occupied in Columbus.
Wednesday, with Alberg and Sapong back, Epps was allowed to be a complementary piece rather than a primary chance generator. Alberg, despite missing a penalty kick he successfully argued away from Sapong, fired six shots. Sapong was the man of the match with a goal and two assists, setting a career high for goals in a season (10) and tying his mark for most assists (5).
Epps slotted marvelously into that framework, switched to the left flank usually patrolled by Picault. Epps even inspired Curtin to draw parallels to the iconic Thierry Henry for Epps’ penchant to curl shots toward the back post.
“He aims for the far post and has a good calmness about him,” Curtin said. “He’s very deceptive in that it’s not 10 step-overs to do that, it’s the way he moves his hips and angles his body and he can kind of use his defender as a screen for the goalkeeper and that little pass to that back post. Henry was the best ever at it. We talk about it with Marcus, utilizing that and shooting to the back post.
“He had three or four (shots) that, some got blocked, some got defenders just wide, but his persistence paid off and he made a really good run and the goal that he scored was actually harder than the other chances that he created for himself.”