Crew clicks in rousing restart
Battling injuries, an 11:20 p.m. kickoff and the emotional weight of having a teammate test positive for COVID-19 a week and a half ago, the Crew bucked any idea that it was not fully prepared for a return to play on Saturday night.
In its first game in 126 days, the Crew showed its resolve with a 4-0 drubbing of rival FC Cincinnati in the teams’ opening match of the MLS is Back tournament near Orlando, Florida.
The Crew played without starters Pedro Santos and Milton Valenzuela, but there were no issues to be found with the team’s connectivity in the attack. Its top two scoring threats, Lucas Zelarayan and Gyasi Zardes, maximized their opportunities and commanded the game with a combined three goals and an assist.
Before Saturday’s nightcap of the tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, there had been six goals scored in five games. The Crew’s outburst provided the most entertaining game for a casual fan through the first four days of competition.
Realistic fans will see that Cincinnati has a lot of problems. But the trick for the Crew moving forward in this tournament — and any regular season after the tournament — will be living up to the expectations it set in its first game in four months.
“By no means is this anything we should be celebrating too much,” coach Caleb Porter said after the game. “We’re going to keep it pretty businesslike and make sure we come to the next game against New York and then against Atlanta.”
Without naming players, Porter said that the four members of his team who were out with injury for Saturday’s match do not have serious injuries that should keep them out for an extended time, and that the player who tested positive for coronavirus has since tested negative.
The Crew chose to cancel its only 90-minute match against another team before the tournament began out of an abundance of caution because of the positive case of COVID-19. There was significant, and understandable, concern that the club would stumble out of the gate.
But Porter and the players remained confident that they were as ready as they could be. Saturday’s match wasn’t perfect, but they executed in the moments they had to and certainly looked impressive.
“I kind of felt like it was a season opener because it’s a new tournament we’re participating in and it’s extremely important to get off on the right foot,” said Zardes, whose goals in the 30th and 49th minute helped give Columbus a 3-0 lead.
Unlike some of other teams in the tournament’s group stage, the Crew’s style of play was clear and its purpose in the attack was intentional. This mostly came from Zardes and Zelarayan, an Argentine new to the Crew this season.
Not having to wait several games for them to get into a rhythm was comforting for a club with high aspirations.
“My connection with Gyasi has been really good,” Zelarayan said through a translator. “It’s very important to be together. Every time that I receive the ball, I’m always looking for him.”
Zelarayan’s sensational free-kick goal in the 27th minute and his assist on Zardes’ first goal, three minutes later, were the obvious highlights.
But the commanding play of midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Artur, who successfully pressured the ball and broke lines in the Cincinnati defense with their passes, helped make the Crew look like a complete team that Porter envisioned entering this season.
“The game is won and lost in the center of the park and those three guys (Artur, Nagbe and Zelarayan) really help us dictate the game on both sides of the ball,” Porter said.
The Crew’s next game in Group E is against the New York Red Bulls at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday. jmyers@dispatch.com @_jcmyers