MLS Five Points: Crew SC, Timbers take control in conference finals
Favorites on the ropes after home teams romp on Sunday
This scenario always scares those higher-seeded teams. The home team bursts out of the gates and secures an early goal. The advantage provides further inspiration and spurs a second goal. And, all of a sudden, the series moves closer and closer to the edge for the expected favorites.
Columbus and Portland followed that template on Sunday. Crew SC scored the fastest goal in MLS playoff history en route to a 2-0 victory at MAPFRE Stadium. Nat Borchers procured a critical goal in second-half stoppage time to give the Timbers a 3-1 win at Providence Park.
Make no mistake: FC Dallas and New York Red Bulls are capable of overturning their two-goal deficits. Both sides climbed to the top of MLS this season by performing well at home and sweeping away teams from time to time. But history (all four clubs who won the first game in a two-legged conference final have reached MLS Cup) and practicality (two-goal deficits against two good teams) indicate the two favorites face a long road back.
Columbus punches New York in the mouth and then sweeps the leg
It took Columbus nine seconds to score the first goal in the conference finals. The sequence of events -- kickoff, long ball, flick, attempted challenge, goal -- played out far better than Crew SC anticipated. Those sorts of set plays do not generally work from the outset because opposing teams prepare for them on film. New York assessed the threat in the buildup to the game, but the Red Bulls failed to execute. It cost them a goal and permitted Crew SC to grasp the initiative firmly.
Columbus dictated the terms of the game after that early goal. New York cobbled together meaningless possession without posing more than an intermittent threat. Crew SC placed the Red Bulls under pressure when the ball turned over -- and it turned over too frequently under duress -- and eventually snatched a second goal in the dying embers.
Late substitute Cedrick benefited from Ethan Finlay’s hard running on the right. His dazzling run exposed those tired Red Bulls legs and prompted the simplest of touches for Kei Kamara to turn home the second. The entire sequence stemmed from the Red Bulls’ fatigue -- no closing on the quick Cedrick, no tracking on the one man that always must be tracked -- and yielded Crew SC a goal they might end up needing at Red Bull Arena next Sunday (live, 7:30p.m. ET, FS1, FOX Sports GO, FOX Deportes).
Red Bulls must cope with the pressure in midfield to respond
Any chance of a Red Bulls revival starts with a vast improvement from the best midfield trio in the league this season. Columbus blunted Felipe, Sacha Kljestan and Dax McCarty in the first leg. The trio never controlled the cadence of the game, figured out a way to keep the ball efficiently or presented enough of a threat on the ball. The ineffectiveness of Mike Grella, Lloyd Sam and Bradley Wright-Phillips stemmed from those fundamental issues.
New York must figure out a way to cope with Crew SC’s desire to close down space and play through that pressure more effectively. Columbus executed wonderfully on both counts in the first leg. It is down to the Red Bulls to muster a similar response on home soil to draw Grella and Sam into the game, force those Crew SC fullbacks to adopt more conservative positions and provide Wright-Phillips with a supply line located somewhere other than the corner flag.
Set piece prowess propels effective Timbers performance
Portland entered the first leg with some pressing questions about its midfield balance and its thrust with protagonist Diego Valeri suspended. Darlington Nagbe addressed the first issue by retaining the ball particularly deftly and spending much of the opening hour bossing the game. Nagbe also played a part in the unexpected resolution to the second problem: a newly discovered prowess on set pieces.
Credit the Timbers for taking full advantage of FC Dallas’ sudden hesitancy inside its own penalty area. Several FCD players stood and watched Dairon Asprilla and Liam Ridgewell construct the opener from a Nagbe corner kick. Norberto Paparatto enjoyed a free run to the ball that ultimately yielded Borchers’ killer third in second-half stoppage time.
This segment of the game loomed as a potential problem for the hosts -- Portland leaks goals on set pieces, while FCD wields them menacingly -- and yet it proved decisive in favor of the Timbers.
FC Dallas must hope Portland loses balance once again
FCD returns to Frisco with some hope after the Timbers conceded in the final half-hour. The instability created by Ridgewell’s calf injury -- he tweaked it at midfield, limped off and forced Paparatto into the match briskly -- played a large part in David Texeira’s goal just after the hour. Texeira pounced as the Timbers failed to react.
Perhaps the more encouraging sign for FCD came in the following minutes. Portland allowed the game to stretch vertically and enticed FCD forward by ceding space in midfield. Those sorts of gaps provide life for Michael Barrios, Fabian Castillo and Mauro Diaz. They also point the way forward for FCD as this second leg beckons.
Expect Portland to address that balance -- this game proved far, far too open at points, particularly from the fullbacks -- with a two-goal lead ahead of the second leg. There is plenty of latitude for the league’s second-best away team to rely on its defensive shape and trust its counter to deliver a goal. The onus falls on the league’s best home team to tempt the Timbers out and throw themselves a lifeline if the discipline wavers.
