The Crew have been on a roll and have been in perhaps the best form in MLS since opening weekend. They looked to continue that run Saturday against Vancouver, who has yet to capture an MLS road win.
There really isn't much to say about the first half. Both sides had a couple of half chances, but not much really promising. In the 27th minute Jay Nolly misplayed a Crew ball in, but it was expertly cleared by his defense. We went to the half at 0-0 and it really was anybody's match.
The second half got interesting though and it was game on. Columbus was awarded a PK in the 49th minute and Renteria stepped up to take it. He calmly scored the place kick and the Crew led 1-0. It then really looked like the Crew were in control. The Whitecaps looked dazed. In the 59th minute Renteria struck again, this time from open play. He took a nice cheeky ball from Eddei Gaven and put Crew up 2-0.
For all intents and purposes, it looked like it was over, but Vancouver had other plans. They actually showed up. They pushed more men forward and started to get a lot fo the ball around the Crew 18. Finally in the 69th minute, Dunfield put a lovely ball in for Salgado who managed his first MLS goal and the Crew lead to 2-1. They kept coming. Salgado got another chance just a couple of minutes later when she slid in on a cross but just barely hit over the bar. That woke Hesmer up, and successfully fended off the Caps for the rest of the match to seal the 2-1 win for Columbus.
All in all, it wasn't the most entertaining match you'll ever see. The game proved tougher to close out for Crew than it probably should have been, but they got the points and played pretty well. The Whitecaps showed a lot of character, especially after going down two goals, but it was too little too late. They've played some good football at times this year, but haven't been able to quite grind out the results.
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