The Columbus Crew celebrate after scoring. (MLSSoccer.com)
It looks like the Crew really benefited from a week off between their opening loss at Colorado and their week three matchup vs. Montreal Impact. Not that they played a perfect game, and certainly the Impact red card helped, but they looked a lot better and also seemed very capable of making some noise in the Eastern Conference.
The Crew got on the right foot in the opening minutes. In minute two, Eddie Gaven was already up to his usual excellent work rate. He sent the opening salvo in on the Impact goal, only to see it go wide. Emilio Renteria also caused a lot of problems for Montreal. He got loose on a break in the 13th minute but also saw his shot sail wide of the mark.
It wasn't all Columbus though. The Impact are starting to look better and gel. Don't forget that they have a lot of MLS veterans on their side that can do some damage once they're on the same page. Former Colorado Rapid Sanna Nyassi had the Impact's first quality chance in the 16th minute, putting a header on goal that was well saved by Andy Gruenebaum.
The Impact continued to have some joy up the flanks, with Justin Mapp in particular creating with some nice balls in. Unfortunately for the expansion side, it all came crashing down in the 19th minute. Midfielder Jeb Brovsky went up for a ball against the Crew's Milovan Mirosevic and landed his elbow to the back of the Crew man's head. He received the red card for his trouble, and the Impact would be down to ten for the rest of the match.
You have to give the Impact credit though. They still tried to compete and didn't just totally bunker in. Nyassi forced another save out of the Crew 'keeper from a set piece in the 23rd, and Felipe made some in roads as well.
The Crew finally got their noses in front in the 30th minute. Felipe Martins brought Renteria down in the area and conceded a PK against the Impact. They weren't very happy with this, and Nyassi was shown a yellow card in the process. Mirosevic calmly iced the spot kick and the Crew took the lead into halftime at 1-0.
Montreal continued their high work rate and strong effort in the second half, but the Crew's man advantage began to show. A lot of credit must be given to Impact 'keeper Donovan Ricketts, who pretty much stood on his head in the second half trying to keep the Impact in the game. The former Galaxy man made save after save and generally withstood the Crew onslaught.
That all changed when Columbus finally got the better of him in the 66th minute. Shaun Francis sent a cross into the area and Crew newcomer Olman Vargas rose and headed the ball into the bottom corner of the goal to make it 2-0 to the Crew.
Montreal would get a couple of half chances later in the match, but just couldn't really trouble the Crew keeper, and the match ended with the 2-0 score. The red card was unfortunate. The Impact really came to play in this one and I just can't help but think things might have been different had they kept everybody on the pitch. However, you have to give credit to the Crew as well. Crew Stadium is a tough place to come get points because the Crew supporters are great and the team is always up in the game for them. In particular, Vargas and Mirosevic had great matches, and Renteria earned man of the match honors.
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