So when is a match with 6 goals and three equalizers not epic? When it's at Crew Stadium featuring Columbus and Chivas. Now I'll readily admit that I got this one wrong in my MLS preview this week. I figured the match would totally suck, the Crew would scrounge a goal, and they'd get three points. Instead, Chivas got a lead, fell asleep at the switch, and Columbus scrounged a goal: then repeat two times.
The Goats got us off to an early start and had some nice possession in the Crew 18. Justin Braun had a shot blocked in the 3rd minute. The next minute he sent a cross in to Nick LaBrocca, who managed to get his header by Will Hesmer to make it 0-1 to Chivas.
So then the Crew thought, oh crap, we're losing to Chivas, so they decided to get some pressure on the ball. Chivas started to show some signs of some uncharacteristic defensive lapses. I mean, they've defended pretty well all year. However, in the 12th minute Kennedy pulled a Robert Green, only to have Jazic come in and BARELY clear the ball off the goal line to preserve the lead. It came crashing down in the 17th though when DP Mendoza decided to finally show up. He slotted a ball home past a defenseless Kennedy to tie the game at 1-1.
Toward the end of the half, the Goats started to crank things up again. More pressure culminated in a corner in the 38th minute. Boyens elevated and got his on the corner and made it 1-2 to the Goats going into the half time break.
The Crew kind of lolly-gagged around a bit to start the second half again. While the defense, and Hesmer, sat around thinking about what they were going to have for dinner, Flores stepped up for the goats and clanged a shot off the post. Then the Crew realized that were losing to Chivas again and that's bad.
So they stepped up the pressure again. Mendoza got a break in the 50th that Kennedy just managed to save. Then in the 51st, Gardner managed to get off a shot that went off target. Then in the 52nd, Chivas brought it out, made the worst back pass you'll ever see in professional soccer, and Mendoza grabbed it and slammed it by a befuddled Kennedy to even the game at 2-2.
Unfortunately the Columbus Defense, and Will Hesmer, were still standing around watching the ball go back and forth thinking "Ooh, pretty!" So Chivas decided they really wanted to try and get three points. Flores hit a strike in the 57th, while the defense was picking dandelions, and made it 2-3.
So once again, the Columbus offense, much maligned this year, decided to step up and salvage something against an equally fragile Chivas defense. In the 64th minute Kennedy saved a shot, but it rebounded out to Ekpo who put it home to equalize again at 3-3.
Disaster struck for the Goats in the 69th minute. Flores, the most recent Chivas goal scorer, made an absolutely bone-headed tackle and picked up his second yellow card, earning a one way trip via red card to the showers. Columbus subbed in Jeff Cunningham and immediately went full out attack. However, they couldn't find the back of the net. They came close though. In the first minute of stoppage time, Jazic came to the rescue again and cleared a shot off the line, this time by Jeff Cunningham. This preserved the 3-3 score, which is how the match finished.
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