With two players away on international duty and a half-dozen more out injured, the Union pushed their depth as far as they could. It finally broke Sunday night in Columbus, though not for lack of effort.
Mohamed Farsi’s goal in first-half stoppage time was the only one the Crew needed to top the short-handed Union, 1-0, in an ill-tempered game that featured eight yellow cards and a 58-minute weather delay out of halftime.
The result ends a 13-game unbeaten streak in all competitions for the Union (12-4-4, 40 points), who nonetheless end the week atop the Supporters’ Shield standings. It had been a franchise-record 11 games unbeaten in MLS, and the loss is their first since April 12 at New York City FC.
The Union were without two players away with the U.S. for the Gold Cup, plus injured strikers Tai Baribo and Mikael Uhre as well as defenders Olivier Mbaizo and Frankie Westfield, and the suspended Jakob Glesnes (yellow-card accumulation). That meant Alejandro Bedoya started at right back for the second straight game, Jovan Lukic deputized at center back and David Vazquez and Sal Olivas both got MLS debuts as substitutes. The task didn’t get any easier when Bedoya picked up a yellow card for a tactical foul 12 seconds into the game.
But the Union fought hard, staying within a moment of stealing a result at the fourth-place Crew (10-3-7, 37 points). The teams had played to a 2-2 draw, snatched by the Crew in a stoppage-time set piece, on May 10.
The Crew really had one moment of brilliance and made it count. Lassi Lappalainen got free down the attacking left, and his cross picked out Farsi, his fellow wing back bombing down the right whose first-time finish netted his first goal of the season. That play, on the stroke of halftime, was the first move of attacking substance for either side.
The Union, with three points in the bag from Wednesday’s win in Chicago, pushed hard after the break. Coach Bradley Carnell made two changes, including giving Cavan Sullivan his longest run of play in MLS at 45 minutes. Bedoya got on the end of a set piece in the 68th, but his effort from two yards out managed to skirt across the face of goal without a touch from anyone to nudge it home.
Five of the Union’s six shots came in the second half, though it limited the Crew to just seven total attempts on the day. On just about the final action of the game, Jesus Bueno flew in for a header on a Kai Wagner free kick, but it flashed wide. For all the industry by the shorthanded side, they left disappointed not to have a shot on target against 39-year-old Evan Bush, Columbus’s third-stringer.
Source: Berkshire mont
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