Crew to potentially be without 3 top players
Crew goalkeeper Eloy Room, who has made numerous stellar saves to keep the Crew in playoff contention, will be unavailable for an immensely important game Saturday at Lower.com Field against CF Montreal.
Room will miss one-to-two weeks with an adductor strain, Crew coach Caleb Porter said.
Room injured his right leg around the 86th minute of a 1-1 draw against the firstplace New England Revolution over the weekend. He stayed in the game because Porter had used all his available substitutions, and Room made three saves to preserve the point on the road.
"Probably be out for Montreal, but should be one-to-two weeks max,” Porter said. “He's a big part of what we do and our success for sure, but have a lot of confidence in Evan Bush (as the backup) as well."
In 24 games, Room is sixth in Major League Soccer with 70 saves and holds a 68% save percentage.
"He keeps us in a bunch of games,” midfielder Marlon Hairston said.
In addition to Room, attacking midfielder Lucas Zelarayan is doubtful against Montreal. He missed the game against New England due to a hip strain he suffered against the New York Red Bulls last week. Porter said the injury has a one-to-two-week timetable.
Porter didn't rule Zelarayan out, but indicated Zelarayan is more likely to play in the Campeones Cup match Sept. 29 against Mexican club Cruz Azul and the away game against Philadelphia Union on Oct. 3.
His status for Saturday, Porter said, will be decided later in the week.
Winger Pedro Santos, who missed this past weekend's game due to a concussion he suffered in the first minute against the Red Bulls, is currently in return-to-play protocol, Porter said.
Before he is cleared to play, Santos must be symptom-free for five straight days.
Room, Santos and Zelarayan were not part of the team's training session Tuesday.
The Crew (8-11-7, 31 points) are four points behind Philadelphia Union in the final playoff spot and six points behind Montreal (10-8-7, 37 points) which sits in fifth place. All three teams the Crew must jump to make the playoffs have played fewer games — two fewer in the case of Philadelphia.
Without their top goalkeeper, top attacking player in Zelarayan, and one of the best two-way players on the team in Santos, the Crew will be forced to continue to dig into their depleted depth.
Porter also said midfielder Artur will hopefully return to training in the next two-to-three weeks. Artur hasn't played since May 29 due to hernia surgery. Reserve left back Waylon Francis, who missed the past two games after contracting COVID-19, will likely return to practice at the end of the week. jmyers@dispatch.com @_jcmyers