Written by Adrian Beecher
COLUMBUS, OH- Columbus Crew SC suffered their first loss of the season and their fourth straight home loss to Vancouver dating back to 2012 on Saturday. The loss ends a 14 game unbeaten streak at home dating back through last season. The Crew would get the first goal of the match off a rebound that Gyasi Zardes put into the back of the net. However, two second-half goals from the Whitecaps proved too much to overcome in the 2-1 loss.
Things started off a bit chippy between both teams. The Whitecaps received two quick fouls in the first five minutes of the match. As the refferee's tried to bring in the reigns on the chippiness, we saw the first yellow card of the match shown in the 10th minute, as Marcel de Jong for the Whitecaps took the booking.
In the 15th minute, the Whitecaps looked like they were going to have the first goal of the match as they sent a nice ball into a crowded box. However, keeper Zach Steffen for Columbus dove into the middle of his defenders and punched the ball clear of danger.
Pedro Santos found himself in space on the left side of the goal in the 23rd minute of the match and looked to have a decent chance to put a shot on goal. However, the shot deflected off a Vancouver defender that he was one-on-one with and went just wide left of the goal.
Santos again got off a shot in the 29th minute, and this time it was on target from outside the box. However, Vancouver goalie Stefan Marinovic stopped the shot with a diving save, the rebound went right to Gyasi Zardes, who then placed it directly into the back of the net for the Columbus goal.
Halfway through, Crew was dominating on the shot chart with seven and two on target compared to just two shots total and one on target from Vancouver. This correlated into domination in possession as well for the Crew, leading the stat line 63% to 36%.
In the 2nd half, the Whitecaps started with a strong push forward, which paid off. Just six minutes into the second half, Brek Shea scored unassisted for Vancouver to draw even.
Alphonso Davies looked to have scored the go-ahead goal for Vancouver in the 67th minute. However, a video review would reveal a handball infraction by Davies that would negate the goal.
Columbus continued to struggle as the second half went on. They were not able to get any shots on target in the second half, and the size of Vancouver seemed to be wearing on them.
Then came the 78th minute of the match. Vancouver's Felipe Martins sent in a beauty of a ball into the box, where Kei Kamara connected with a header off the pass that went straight into the back of the net for the go-ahead goal.
As time winded down, Columbus was unable to get a decent chance at an equalizer. Five minutes of extra time was added, but that was still not enough for the Crew to draw even as they dropped their first match of the year.
Columbus will now turn their focus to a two-game road trip that starts with a match against the Chicago Fire on April 7th. Thier next home match is against the New England Revolution on April 21st.
Things started off a bit chippy between both teams. The Whitecaps received two quick fouls in the first five minutes of the match. As the refferee's tried to bring in the reigns on the chippiness, we saw the first yellow card of the match shown in the 10th minute, as Marcel de Jong for the Whitecaps took the booking.
In the 15th minute, the Whitecaps looked like they were going to have the first goal of the match as they sent a nice ball into a crowded box. However, keeper Zach Steffen for Columbus dove into the middle of his defenders and punched the ball clear of danger.
Pedro Santos found himself in space on the left side of the goal in the 23rd minute of the match and looked to have a decent chance to put a shot on goal. However, the shot deflected off a Vancouver defender that he was one-on-one with and went just wide left of the goal.
Santos again got off a shot in the 29th minute, and this time it was on target from outside the box. However, Vancouver goalie Stefan Marinovic stopped the shot with a diving save, the rebound went right to Gyasi Zardes, who then placed it directly into the back of the net for the Columbus goal.
Halfway through, Crew was dominating on the shot chart with seven and two on target compared to just two shots total and one on target from Vancouver. This correlated into domination in possession as well for the Crew, leading the stat line 63% to 36%.
In the 2nd half, the Whitecaps started with a strong push forward, which paid off. Just six minutes into the second half, Brek Shea scored unassisted for Vancouver to draw even.
Alphonso Davies looked to have scored the go-ahead goal for Vancouver in the 67th minute. However, a video review would reveal a handball infraction by Davies that would negate the goal.
Columbus continued to struggle as the second half went on. They were not able to get any shots on target in the second half, and the size of Vancouver seemed to be wearing on them.
Then came the 78th minute of the match. Vancouver's Felipe Martins sent in a beauty of a ball into the box, where Kei Kamara connected with a header off the pass that went straight into the back of the net for the go-ahead goal.
As time winded down, Columbus was unable to get a decent chance at an equalizer. Five minutes of extra time was added, but that was still not enough for the Crew to draw even as they dropped their first match of the year.
Columbus will now turn their focus to a two-game road trip that starts with a match against the Chicago Fire on April 7th. Thier next home match is against the New England Revolution on April 21st.