Columbus lets game slip away late
Club needs to get back on track to make the playoffs
Ahead by a goal after coming from behind with two goals in a three-minute span midway through the second half, the Crew saw the Wizards become just the third team in MLS history to score the tying goal and winning goal in stoppage time to claim a 3-2 victory.
"We're not happy, that's it. I don't have much else to say," said Crew midfielder Eddie Gaven. "I'm just kind of shocked."
Trying to get back to the MLS Cup Playoffs after missing out the last two years, the Crew now have not won in seven games. They continue to have a hard time finishing matches.
"We have to close out games at the end," Gaven said. "I don't know how many times this year that we've done that (lost a lead late) -- at least four or five. We're up or we're tied and we give up goals and we then lose points. That's the reason we kind of have our backs up against the wall right now."
Gaven wasn't the only Crew player in disbelief about what happened against the Wizards. One player had his head buried in his hands; another forcefully threw an object across the room.
"It's just hard to explain how much it hurt," said Crew forward Jason Garey. "We worked hard all game to come back on the road."
After Scott Sealy gave the Wizards a first-half lead, goals from Alejandro Moreno and Andy Herron pulled the Crew in front. As the clock ticked over to 90 minutes and into stoppage time, it looked like the Crew had salted away a victory that would have brought them within two points of the Wizards in the playoff race.
"We blew the game in (stoppage) time and that's unacceptable," Garey said.
But Stefani Miglioranzi was adjudged to have pulled down Kerry Zavagnin, and referee Andrew Chapin ruled for a penalty kick, which was duly converted by Eddie Johnson.
"I have no comment -- talk to the referee," said Crew coach Sigi Schmid. "The referee is the one who influenced the game tonight. That's all I have to say."
Then barely a minute later Sealy headed home an Eloy Colombano cross, and the Wizards grabbed all three points.
"We had three points with four minutes left, we had three points and we let it go," Garey said. Said Gaven: "Right now, it's just a shock that we let this one slip away."
The Crew are still in the MLS playoff hunt and are for looking for answers. Three of their final five games are on the road, and the next two are against teams also outside the top eight -- Toronto FC (away) and Los Angeles Galaxy (home).
"If we play the way we played tonight we'll get good results," Garey said. "It's not impossible for us to win out and go to the playoffs."
The solution is there for the Crew. They have to take the match into their hands.
"It's just us having to take control of the game and not letting anything like that happen," Garey said.
It was a crushing defeat for the Crew. But the team is still confident.
"It's late in the season, but we have to figure something out," Gaven said.
Thomas Foote is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
