New-look lineup delivers first win
Coach Gregg Berhalter, criticized at times last season for an unwillingness to modify his approach, altered Crew SC’s alignment to great effect on Saturday night in a 2-0 win over D.C. United in Washington.
Federico Higuain and Ola Kamara scored on penalty kicks and goalkeeper Zack Steffen made three saves in the second half as the Crew (1-1-1) won for the first time in three tries this season. Rookie defender Alex Crognale, a Gahanna native making his Major League Soccer debut, supplied a poised and impressive performance.
The Crew received solid contributions throughout the lineup coming off a 3- 1 loss last week in Houston.
“I thought it was the ultimate team effort,” Berhalter said. “You had guys working for each other, sacrificing for each other.”
The biggest story, however, was the coach’s decisions.
What is becoming apparent early in the season is Berhalter’s openness to change after a dreadful 2016 campaign in which he was admittedly too patient — some might argue too stubborn — to shake up the team.
A week ago, he benched right back Harrison Afful at halftime because of a poor outing. This week, he switched from his favored 4-2-3-1 formation to three center backs in an alignment that resembled a 3- 4- 2- 1.
Berhalter tinkered with the three centerback set before the season and during an exhibition against the University of Akron. He opted to use it on a night the Crew was without defender Jonathan Mensah because of a red- card
suspension.
Berhalter said he plans to tailor his looks to the opponent.
“I think the guys stuck to the game plan and kept to the formation and stayed compact,” he said. “First and foremost, we wanted to be compact in the penalty box. We knew (United) put a lot of balls in there, and there is no better way to combat it than with three center backs.”
Berhalter played Crognale in the middle of a back line that included Nicolai Naess and Josh Williams. Crognale’s composure was evident, especially in the first half with several welltimed challenges. He finished the match with three tackles, two blocks and an interception.
“He was isolated a couple times in the first half and really responded well,” Berhalter said. “And in the air — where I told him before the game, ‘ this is where you are going to earn your money’ — he did a great job.”
Offensively, the Crew generated a season- high six shots on goal. The 72nd; D.C., Harkes (time wasting) 17th; Sam (dissent) 42nd; Sarvas (dissent) 70th.
Shots: Columbus 5-2–7; D.C. 4-9–13. Shots on goal: Columbus 4-2–6; D.C. 0-3–3. Saves: Columbus, Steffen 0-3–3; D.C., Hamid 3-1–4. Fouls: Columbus 4-8–12; D.C. 9-4–13. Corner kicks: Columbus 0-1–1; D.C. 0-6–6. Offsides: Columbus 1-0–1; D.C. 7-2–9. A: 14,031.
Lineups: Columbus—Steffen; Afful, Crognale, Naess, Raitala, Williams; Artur (Abu 70), Higuain, Trapp; Kamara (Jahn 80), Meram (Finlay 63). D.C.—Hamid; Birnbaum, Franklin, Kemp; Acosta (Neagle 75), DeLeon, Harkes, Sam (Le Toux 60), Sarvas; Mullins (Ortiz 28), Nyarko.
new approach certainly seemed to suit Higuain, who finished with four shots on target and figured in both goals.
In the 38th minute, his one-touch pass sent Ola Kamara into the box, where he was fouled by center back Steve Birnbaum. Higuain beat keeper Bill Hamid from the spot for his 40th career goal. Kamara doubled the lead in the 66th minute after drawing yet another penalty on Birnbaum. Higuain started the play with a lovely through ball to Afful, who had a nice bounce-back performance.
“In typical Pipa fashion, he made everything look calm around him,” Berhalter said. “When he got the ball, everything slowed down a bit. That’s the mark of a good player.”
United (0-2-1) is without a goal on the season, but it had several decent chances over the final 40 minutes. Steffen made big second-half stops on Lloyd Sam and Patrick Nyarko for his first shutout.