Fire and brimstone: Crew 4, Cincinnati 0. This playoff series is headed back to Porkopolis
The Nordecke pops a cold one, and toasts
After all the fans exited the new Crew stadium Sunday night, after all the post-game interviews were done and the locker rooms cleared, some of the last people left in the building, per usual, were the hard-working folks who service the place. And there, on one of their carts, was evidence of preparation for a celebration that was not in the offing. Not on this night.
It was a collection of lonely soldiers – a 12 pack of Rhinegeist India Pale Ales, which have "Cincy Made" stamped on the label, and more than a dozen Moerlein Pilsners, from one of the oldest breweries in Cincinnati. Moerlein at the LDC? That'd be like having Hosters at TQL – oddly out-of-place. Presumably, these canned imposters were gathered by FC Cincinnati loyalists – well-heeled fans, forward-thinking coaches and/or staff, or maybe even front-office types. Owners? I don't know. But maybe.
What can be said is that these particular Queen City quaffs were not consumed on the night the Crew put a 4-0 beating on the Cincinnatis before a crowd of 19,506. While that's not quite a sellout, I can say, having spent most of the game in standing-room areas of the lower bowl, that I've rarely heard a Columbus crowd in finer form. Hell was Real. The Nordecke was electric, and they know what to do with beer, too – empty the cans for purposes of recycling.
Last Monday, the Crew lost Game 1 of their Round One, best-of-three series in Cincinnati. They came back with one of their best performances of the season in Game 2. The series now shifts back to Cincinnati, where the rubber-match Game 3 will be played at TQL Stadium on Saturday (time TBD).
The Crew froth on for at least one more game. Midfielder Darlington Nagbe, who announced he will retire at the end of the season, will have at least one more 90-minute run. His teammates are wearing custom-made white hoodies with "6OAT" emblazoned, tastefully, above the pocket.
"All you can ask for is to give yourself a chance," Nagbe said.
Michael Arace
The Crew in Game 2 were aided by the fact that Cincinnati midfielder Yuya Kubo, whose aggressiveness can border on butchery, was run out of the game with his second yellow card in the 35th minute. The Crew had a 1-0 lead when Kuba slinked down the tunnel. On the ensuing free kick, Dylan Chambost fired a left-footed sidewinder that found the inside of the near (right) post to make it 2-0. Nobody in the Cincinnati wall jumped, and their hair remained perfect.
"That was a tough night and one to quickly forget about," FCC coach Pat Noonan told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "There's no time to put our heads down. There are no guarantees. It was a bad night and fortunately for us we get to do it again on Saturday. This isn't the end of the season. It’s a bump in the road."
The game, for all practical purposes, was over when Chambost scored the 41st minute. It was not over because the Crew played the last hour with a 11-on-10 advantage, not necessarily. It was over because the Crew asserted their will from the opening kick. They had control of the ball and were riffing on their own rhythms well before Kubo was shown red. They exploited the gaps that the Cincinnatis presented between their midfield and defensive lines, and dominated.
“To be honest, we did a lot of similar things compared to the last game, but this time, we kept the time edge that we created," Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said. "What does it mean? It means that we unbalanced them. The game before we didn't keep the fact that we unbalanced them. We play back or we missed the execution. Tonight, everything was clean in terms of when we unbalanced them, we kept them behind us. For me, this is the good point."
In Game 1 down there, FCC was tight in their formation and there was support whenever they were vulnerable. They were mentally engaged. Such was not the case in Game 2. And when the Crew went up a man, the visitors' vulnerabilities were further exposed.
"Obviously, we played with a lot of passion, Nancy said. "When we play like that – not only offensively but defensively – the mindset, this is something that this is difficult to cope. Really pleased for the guys because it was not an easy task playing Cincinnati. This is all the time difficult. They know and we knew that it was a do-or-die [match]. To play with this kind of personality in a game like this, well done.”
Max Arfsten scored the first goal after a lovely long ball from right wingback Andres Herrera to Diego Rossi, who touched the ball over to Arfsten – who was behind everyone on the left wing. Arfsten put down FCC keeper Roman Celantano and wasted no time lacing a shot under the crossbar. Then came Chambost's strike. In the second half, Herrera took a cross from Jacen Russell-Rowe – who'd just come off the bench and popped one in amid mayhem in the goalie box. That made it 3-0 in the 65th minute. Just four minutes later, Russell-Rowe got behind the defense on a center-net drive, took a pass from Arfsten and buried it.
Here are the highlights:
"Obviously, the red card had an effect, but even when it was 11-on-11, we came out with a lot of energy," Arfsten said. "I truly think the crowd helped us. It was ugly at times, but sometimes you've got to get ugly. ... I think (Game 3) is going to come down to intensity. It's do-or-die, so ..."
The Crew created huge margins in shots (19-1) and shots on goal (9-1). They could've finished on more of them but, then, that has been part of their story all season. All the stats were equally hoary. The Crew had a huge advantage in possession (62%-38%) and the xG delta was 3.8-0.1. Caleb Porter couldn't make this stuff up.
Much of the lopsidedness was due, as Arfsten said, to the extra man. But it was still a clinic.
“This is not easy to play a team when they play with 10 men," Nancy said. "I think that what we did well is we kept the intensity and we had the composure, also. I really like the way we managed that and knowing that this is not as easy as we think when we play against 10 men. The control and also the emotional control that we had, that's why we were able to play with the rhythm. When we play with the rhythm, this is interesting. That's why they didn't have shots on target.
"... We were in control. For me, control means that we keep the intensity and we have the composure with the ball to find the gaps to attack with the rhythm.”
Somebody in the press box recycled a Moerlein can.
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Michael Arace
