Down a man, Crew holds on to road tie
With 10 men, a raucous crowd at Orlando City Stadium and its defense on its heels for much of the second half, a weary Crew SC rebounded from a blown lead well enough to earn a point.
The Crew scored in the first half and conceded a goal in the second but hung on for a 1-1 tie against Orlando City
on Saturday night.
“When we look at the match, how it unfolded, we could have got the second goal and we could have played a little better,” coach Gregg Berhalter said. “But overall, with the circumstances that transpired, we’re more than happy with the point.”
What transpired was a lopsided second half in which the Crew couldn’t maintain possession and yielded the tying goal from Orlando.
In the 68th minute, Cristian Higuita slid a ball between the legs of Crew defender Lalas Abubakar to Giles Barnes, who shot from a tight angle and hit both posts in scoring.
The circumstances got worse for the Crew, but the scoreline stayed put.
In the first video review involving the Crew (11-12-3) since the system was implemented Aug. 5, Harrison Afful was shown a red card in the 77th minute for violent conduct. It resulted from a play in which Afful’s arm connected with Yoshimar Yotun’s face in the 74th.
Berhalter, who was fined last month for postgame comments regarding officials after a loss to Philadelphia in which the Crew was shown two red cards, chose not to address the play.
“We’re thrilled that (video assistant referee) is in existence. I think it’s a great thing. I think it’s going to help reverse obvious errors and that’s what I’ll say on that,” Berhalter said. “We subscribe to VAR and we think it’s a good thing for the game.”
Orlando (8-10-7) threatened several times in the closing minutes — Zack Steffen made two of his seven saves in stoppage time — but couldn’t score the go-ahead goal, and the Crew finished with its second straight nonloss after a chippy second half.
The team struggled to reach the final third in the second half but hurt Orlando with long stretches of possession in the first half.
In the 13th minute, left back Waylon Francis passed back to midfielder Justin Meram, who popped up the ball before unleashing a left-footed shot that rang the right post.
For the second straight week, Francis provided the service for a goal. Cristian Martinez earned a free kick on the right side, and Francis put good pace on a ball into the box in the 35th minute. Abubakar, a rookie center back, got a running start and rose over the Orlando defense, heading a ball into the net for his first career goal.
Starting with a game Wednesday against the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Crew will play its next three games at Mapfre Stadium in a stretch that could play a big role in shaping its playoff chances.
“This homestand will potentially define our regular season,” Berhalter said. “It’s three games against three good opponents and we want to pick up some points.”