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U.S. Open Cup Semifinal: Columbus Crew vs. D.C. United (Match Night Commentary)

Dc_united CCrew

Good evening everyone. Bottom dwelling D.C. United is set to host the Columbus Crew in a clash that will determine the first team of the U.S. Open Cup final to be held later this year.

D.C. rested a number of regulars on the weekend against Chivas USA, aiming to be fresh for this evening's match up. They'll have to get the better of a Crew side coming out with a rather full strength lineup of their own, as the 2009 Supporters' Shield winners look to qualify for the final.

I'll be providing live commentary from RFK Stadium, so please feel free to follow along and share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below. Enjoy the match (commentary after the jump).

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FINAL – Columbus 2, D.C. 1. A late run by Graye is the last chance of the game, and that's the end of United's Open Cup hopes. That's all from me for now. Be sure to check back in with SBI for more coverage from the game.

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120th minute – Two minutes of stoppage time.

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120th minute – A free kick for Hamid that he will bash forward into the box.

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118th minute – Lots of space for Schelotto and Columbus, but Hamid saves Gaven's shot.

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117th minute – Burch whistles a free kick wide of the mark.

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116th minute – Foul on the Crew, just outside the box. Setting up United's last chance.

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114th minute – Hejduk down on the pitch, probably just cramped up. United fans serenade him accordingly.

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112th minute – Crew knocking the ball around rather comfortably. Dilly Duka has looked solid in the few touches he's had.

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110th minute – Just over ten minutes left. The players both look rather worn out. Should set up an interesting game on Saturday.

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108th minute – Moreno goes down in the box but Penso is unmoved.

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106th minute – Second half of extra time starts. Jakovic playing up front for D.C., three at the back.

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BREAK – Halftime in extra time. That should have been 2-2. Might United have one last threat in them?

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105th minute – Jakovic misses a gaping net, after a Quaranta-Najar led break. That was D.C.'s chance right there.

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105th minute – Columbus earns a corner. Not much left in the first half of overtime.

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101st minute – Pressure on D.C. now, and the ten-man squad is looking out of ideas.

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99th minute – Jaime Moreno replaces McTavish as United are now set to crash out.

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98th minute – Goal Columbus! Schelotto puts it away, and the Crew go up 2-1. Talley with the foul in the box.

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97th minute – PENALTY Crew! Not really sure what happened, but the ref pointed to the spot and Schelotto lines up to take the kick.

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95th minute – Burns with a low shot that is saved by Hamid, then a ruckus ensues after Garey goes into a hard challenge with the young goalie.

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93rd minute – All Crew to start out this one, as Columbus looks to take advantage of their superiority in numbers.

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91st minute – Back under way in this one, with a spot in the semifinal of the U.S. Open Cup at stake.

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EXTRA TIME – There's the whistle, and this one has 30 extra minutes.

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93rd minute – Moments left until extra time. Columbus ventures forward, but comes up empty handed.

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91st minute – Time for D.C. to hold on for at least overtime. 30 minutes of added time looming in this one.

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89th minute – Najar with the miss! Columbus is asleep on the kick off and Najar is slipped in by McTavish but it goes wide.

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89th minute – GOAL Columbus! Andy Iro was in the box, and a big man at that, knocks down a ball in the D.C. box, and eventually stabs one home. That was ruled an own goal by Marc Burch.

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86th minute – Lenhart heads straight to Hamid as United are holding firm.

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84th minute – United holding on, and defending with numbers deep. Just under seven minutes plus stoppage time to go.

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81st minute – Columbus gets a nice ball into the box but Duka blazes over.

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79th minute – Najar creates another shot for himself, forcing another Gruenebaum save.

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78th minute – Kevin Burns come in for Moffat. Crew pressure continues to ramp up as Garey barely misses getting on the end of a cross.

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77th minute – United break through Najar, but he doesn't shoot and a tame Stephen King shot is collected by Gruenebaum.

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76th minute – Columbus has created one or two half chances since going up a man. D.C. now playing with no forwards and Najar up front.

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74th minute – Hamid punches away a cross from Schelotto then the follow up is whistled dead. Attendance of 3,411.

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72nd minute – Jordan Graye comes in for Danny Allsopp. Who plays up top for D.C.? Maybe Najar or Quaranta up top by himself.

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70th minute – Columbus with a strong attacking line of Schelotto, Garey and Lenhart up front. Can D.C. hang on for 20 minutes?

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68th minute – O'Rourke and Padula come out for the aforementioned duo.

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67th minute – Gaven with another nice run, but gets nothing on the shot. Dilly Duka and Jason Garey set to come on, as Warzycha looks to make some changes.

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65th minute – SAVE GRUENEBAUM! Najar goes on a mazy run and his shot is stuffed by the Crew goalie.

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62nd minute – So Hernandez goes from goal-scoring hero to goat. D.C. needs to hold on for 30 minutes to make the final.

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59th minute – RED CARD Hernandez. The striker is down after a challenge with Marshall and O'Rourke. Hernandez lunged out at O'Rourke, and the Argentine kicked out at O'Rourke, with referee Chris Penso showing Hernandez a red card.

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57th minute – The Crew have improved little by little, but D.C. should have had a look at goal after some fancy footwork by Najar. Hernandez spent too much time on the ball however, and the chance was lost.

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53rd minute – Padula gets forward, but his ball misses everyone and heads out of bounds for D.C. throw.

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51st minute – A delay as Marshall was down on the pitch after a Schelotto free kick.

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49th minute – Save Gruenebaum! Allsopp gets behind the Crew defense, but Marshall catches up and forces the Aussie wide, and his strike is easily handled by Gruenebaum.

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46th minute – We're off, and D.C. is off on the front foot again. James has a header blocked, and Najar hits the post with a follow up effort.

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HALFTIME – Any changes from either side? It's been a rather listless affair, and the Crew need to raise their game in the second half. Gaven has look ok, and Lenhart has put in his usual tireless shift of running.

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HALFTIME – That's the half. D.C. 1, Columbus 0. Not much to see here.

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45th minute – Allsopp and Hernandez work the ball forward, the ball comes to Najar who hits side netting. Should have done better.

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44th minute – Hamid comes out to clear a Schelotto through ball meant for Gaven. Columbus picking things up right before the half?

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42nd minute – Just a few more minutes left in the first half. Columbus with a slight possession edge in this one.

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40th minute – Crew are extremely sloppy tonight — it's almost as if they're playing down to D.C.'s level. Wouldn't be surprised to see a second goal before the half.

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37th minute – United fail to take advantage of a chance to break, as Hernandez hits a pass just out of Najar's reach.

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35th minute – Dejan Jakovic goes in the book for a two-footed lunge on Brian Carroll. A pretty ugly tackle, that one.

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32nd minute – The Crew have shown some good movement off the ball, with Lenhart working hard and having little to show from it.

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30th minute – Hernandez lofts a pointless free kick that goes straight out to touch.

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28th minute – Jakovic spending a bit too much time on the ball, Schelotto getting whistled for the foul. The Argentine looking a bit shaking up from that previous challenge.

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26th minute – McTavish gets a yellow for sending Schelotto tumbling across the pitch. Not what Robery Warzycha wants to see.

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24th minute – Steven Lenhart is active and finding open spaces in the D.C. defense. United need to mark him better back there.

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22nd minute – Eddie Gaven makes a nice run down the wing, and his cross finds the head of Steven Lenhart, who heads over.

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20th minute – Not much going on in this one — back and forth as D.C. looking fairly comfortable.

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17th minute – Columbus look to get back into this one and put Hamid under pressure. Schelotto looking good and needs to see more of the ball.

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13th minute – GOAL D.C. – Hernandez tucks the spot kick home to give United a 1-0 lead.

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12th minute – PENALTY for D.C.! Andy Iro takes down Pablo Hernandez in the box after a sloppy touch from Gruenebaum.

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11th minute – Just wide from Marshall! We've seen that before, as Marshall's header off a Schelotto free kick just misses.

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10th minute – Free kick for the Crew after a Devon McTavish hand ball. Schelotto to take.

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8th minute – D.C. enjoying the better of the play, threatening in the Crew box after a Hejduk turnover. Pablo Hernandez couldn't get anything on a shot, however.

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5th minute – Columbus clear an early D.C. corner.

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3rd minute – Both teams knocking the ball around early on, no attacking intent in real dangerous attacking moves from either side.

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1st minute – Allsopp and Hernandez get things underway.

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PREGAME – Guillermo Barros Schelotto starts for Columbus. I think that speaks volumes about how they are approaching this game, as does defender Chad Marshall. Tough task for D.C. United. Kickoff is moments away.

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PREGAME – Here are the starting lineups for tonight's match:

COLUMBUS

———Lenhart——-Schelotto———–

–O'Rourke—————————-Gaven–

———-Moffat—-Carroll———-

–Padula——Marshall—–Iro—–Hejduk–

—————–Gruenebaum——————

D.C.

———-Hernandez——Allsopp———–

–Quaranta—-King—-Simms—-Najar–

—Burch—-James—-Jakovic—-McTavish–

———————Hamid——————–

Comments

  1. First time I’ve seen Duka since the U-20 WC. He’s looked pretty good and created some dangerous chances for the Crew (he has also committed some turnovers and made some bad touches)

    Reply
  2. I don’t think ther DC announcer has ever heard of soccer. The man sounds like a complete moron. This is very embarrasing as a soccer fan.

    Reply

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