Crew needs better starts on the road
A 1-1 draw against Houston Dynamo on Saturday at BBVA Stadium marked the eighth true road game of this stopand-start 2020 season for the Crew, not one of which has ended in a win and three points.
After dominating New York City FC in the early stages of its last game at home, the Crew (10-4-5, 35 points) was outplayed for almost the entire first half. A goal from Houston midfielder Memo Rodriguez in the 37th minute continued a troubling trend of the Crew conceding first in road games.
While disparities in home and road records are common in Major League Soccer, the Crew has one of two winless road records in the league — the other being the Chicago Fire — when counting the games at the MLS is Back Tournament as neutral-site games.
Coach Caleb Porter’s team proved it can win away from home at the MLS is Back Tournament as the only team to win all three group stage games in Florida, which counted toward the regularseason record.
But the lack of wins and the inability to score first on the road could have significant impact on the Crew’s longevity in the MLS Cup playoffs beginning in less than a month.
“As we get back into more of a rhythm
when we have the ball more, which certainly was the case in that first half, we can't get caught opened up and give away counterattacks,” Porter said.
Only twice has the Crew scored first on the road this season. Minus an own goal against Toronto FC that was actually at a neutral site, the Crew hasn't scored the opener on the road since March 8 in a 1-1 draw against the Seattle Sounders.
In seven games since the regular season restarted in individual markets in late August, the Crew has been outscored 11-7 with two own goals for.
The Crew is still in a strong position with four games remaining and is one of four MLS teams to have clinched a playoff spot. Midfielder Darlington Nagbe, attacking midfielder Lucas Zelarayan and goalkeeper Eloy Room all returned from injuries at Houston. Zelarayan and Room had missed three games, Nagbe eight games.
Having its best two possession midfielders back in the lineup is undoubtedly a boost for the Crew. In the final four games of the regular season, regaining the offensive continuity that drove the Crew to 30 points in its first 13 games of the season will be the top priority.
Nagbe and Zelarayan played just 17 minutes together against Houston, which is when the offense began to possess the ball better and threaten more than it did in the first 45 minutes. But the Crew didn't have a shot on goal until the 83rd minute when winger Youness Mokhtar's shot was saved by Marko
Maric.
“That chemistry will definitely get better as we go through these last four games,” Porter said.
There isn't much of a sample size to evaluate the Crew's record on the road with Nagbe and Zelarayan starting together. Since the MLS is Back Tournament, they've started in just two games together, including a 0-0 draw at FC Cincinnati.
Championship teams have to win away from home. The Crew has two more games on the road — including an important game for playoff seeding against Orlando City on Nov. 4 — before the postseason to prove it can do that.
“You never want to be out,” Nagbe said, “but I think we're coming back at the right time.” jmyers@dispatch.com
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