Schelotto Creates Crew Victory

Matt Bernhardt
August 16, 2008

The Crew came from behind to defeat FC Dallas tonight by a score of 2-1. Guillermo Barros Schelotto extended his lead atop the assist table, feeding Brian Carroll (62nd minute) and Brad Evans (65th minute) to negate a first-half goal from Jeff Cunningham. The win briefly places the Crew into first place in the Eastern Conference, pending the result from New England.

Former Crew striker Jeff Cunningham notched his 100th league goal in the 35th minute, converting a feed from Adrian Serioux. Cunningham was a late addition to the team, only having started training with the club on Tuesday after being acquired from Toronto.

Looking back on the first half, Sigi said after the match that "I didn't think we played well in the first half. We were lucky, Hesmer made some good saves and kept us in the game; especially on Cunningham with the 1v1. We were just off. We were just a little bit lethargic."

During the second half, the Crew were able to make some tactical adjustments to the Dallas game plan, forcing a more direct style of play and preventing FC Dallas from being able to switch possession from flank to flank as easily as they had in the first half.

"The character of the team is great", commented Schmid afterward. "They listened to what we had to say at halftime, they came out in the second half with a lot more engergy, we were a lot more direct in our play, we stretched their defense, got in behind them, and as a result we started to create some chances, and then the goals came."

Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman summed up his postgame comments, saying "I think the game plan went fairly well. The result wasn't what we wanted, but the game plan went well."

After the game, coach Sigi Schmid deflected questions about the standings, saying "I know you guys might not believe this, but I'm not all that focused on first, second, third. I'm just focused on the points. We want to have the same number of points in 21 games as we had in 32 games last season, and then we'll worry about adding more."

"I want that asterisk beside our name, saying we've clinched a playoff spot."

Tonight's victory lifts the Crew to 10-6-4 for the season, with a total of 34 points. Momentarily Columbus find themselves in first place in the Eastern Conference. With Chicago's loss to DC United, they will enter the week no worse than second in the Eastern Conference.

Dallas' loss leaves them on 25 points, with a record of 6-7-7 from 20 games played. They will lose ground on the conference leader, as the two teams above them (Houston and Salt Lake) are facing off tonight.

The Crew's next match is next Saturday when they host Real Salt Lake, while FC Dallas continues their road swing with a visit to Kansas City.

Match Data

Key Events

29' Caution, Drew Moor
35' 0-1 Jeff Cunningham (Adrian Serioux)
50' Caution, Blake Wagner
56' Caution, Brian Carroll
62' 1-1 Brian Carroll (Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Alejandro Moreno)
65' 2-1 Brad Evans (Guillermo Barros Schelotto)

Lineups

FC Dallas:
Dario Sala, Drew Moor, Aaron Pitchkolan, Blake Wagner, Eric Avila (Marcelo Saragosa 63'), Andre Rocha (Bruno Guarda 69'), Pablo Ricchetti, Adrian Serioux, Victor Sikora (Dominic Oduro 81'), Kenny Cooper, Jeff Cunningham

Unused Subs:
Ray Burse, Michael Dello-Russo, Abe Thompson, Chase Wileman

Columbus Crew:
William Hesmer, Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall, Danny O'Rourke, Gino Padula (Jed Zayner 81'), Brian Carroll, Brad Evans (Stefani Miglioranzi 87'), Eddie Gaven, Pat Noonan (Robbie Rogers 58'), Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Alejandro Moreno

Unused Subs:
Andy Gruenebaum, Jason Garey, Andy Iro, Duncan Oughton