Crew’s offense potent despite missing pieces
Two of the three top offseason acquisitions and two solidified starters weren’t on the field, yet the Crew added fodder in the first game of the 2021 season to the narrative that this team could be better than the one that won the MLS Cup four months ago.
The addition of Kevin Molino and Alexandru Matan should strengthen an already brawny attacking group as right back Harrison Afful and midfielder Artur play key roles in joining them for extra support in the attacking third.
Of those four, only Artur played Thursday in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League round of 16. But the Crew had no issues looking like the team it was at the end of last season, convincingly and comfortably
meeting expectations with a 4-0 win against Real Esteli FC in Nicaragua.
“We have many different weapons, and I thought today was the transition and set pieces,” coach Caleb Porter said. “That’s been a point of emphasis for our team. We didn’t think last year we did well enough in those moments, so that was great to see, and I think there’s things to work on as well, but what I’ll say is it was nice to get a clean sheet, also.”
In hindsight, missing what was essentially three starters in Molino, Afful and Artur — all who could play next week, in addition to Marlon Hairston, who was out with what Porter called a “knock” — put the Crew with a very similar lineup dynamic to the MLS Cup in December. That turned out OK.
The Crew had winger Pedro Santos and midfielder Darlington Nagbe out. Luis Diaz and Derrick Etienne Jr. started on the wings, and Aidan Morris filled in for Nagbe. On Thursday at Estadio Nacional de Futbol in Managua, Morris started for Artur, Diaz started for Molino and Etienne played for Afful.
Etienne was at a new position, so growing pains were to be expected. But like in the MLS Cup, the Crew could rely on center backs Josh Williams and Jonathan Mensah and goalkeeper Eloy Room defensively, then depend on Lucas Zelarayan and Gyasi Zardes to carry the attack.
“Our quality showed in key positions,” Porter said. “Obviously, with Gyasi bagging a couple goals, it was great to see us be goal-dangerous and ruthless in transition and on set pieces actually.”
Fitness aside, Zardes and Zelarayan looked to be in midseason form with only a handful of preseason games entering the first leg of the tournament. Zardes found good spots in the box and converted two of three great goal-scoring opportunities. Zelarayan pulled the strings in the midfield and made passes from the midfield that led to an opportunity in the box.
Their contributions were at the level expected. What was encouraging for the Crew ahead of next week’s second leg and MLS opener on April 18 was another solid performance from Morris and the improvement Diaz made with the ball at his feet.
There’s no doubt the Costa Rican winger has elite speed, but what he has lacked in his first two years with the Crew in his decision-making.
He was incredibly unselfish against Esteli and was always looking for runners in the box, which made him even more dangerous and led to a great assist on Zardes’ second goal in the 33rd minute.
“We believe Luis is a very dangerous player,” Zelarayan said. “He’s having a great moment and is being supported by the midfielders, so we definitely need to take advantage of him right now.”
Porter has the option of resting players in the second leg and keeping them available for the game against Philadelphia and not having to worry about a result to advance to the quarterfinals.
But like any fan who watched the four-goal first half Thursday night, Porter can’t help but think of the possibilities when the entire group is together.
“Listen, it’s the first game,” Porter said. “We’ve only been at this five weeks, though I knew it wouldn’t be perfect, but I thought our mentality was excellent, the way we started the match.” jmyers@dispatch.com @_jcmyers