If Real Salt Lake were planning to get out of the current funk that they are in versus the Columbus Crew, they failed.
The Crew picked up a comfortable 2-0 win over RSL on Saturday night at Crew Stadium thanks to first-half goals from Tony Tchani and Eddie Gaven.
Tchani knocked in his second in as many games with a low shot to the near post while Gaven hit a left-footed effort from six yards out that smacked off the underside of the crossbar before completely passing the goal line.
Real Salt Lake now has lost three straight matches by a combined score of 7-3. RSL is still in second place in the Western Conference but now trail the San Jose Earthquakes by four points despite having played one more game. The recent injuries to centerbacks Jamison Olave and Chris Schuler have hurt the defense, while the absence of Kyle Beckerman on Saturday to suspension clearly hurt the Western Conference powerhouse.
Here are the match highlights:
What do you think of the Crew's 2-0 win over RSL? See Columbus continuing to push for a playoff spot? See RSL turning things around once Olave and Beckerman return, or do you see bigger issues for Real Salt Lake.
Share your thoughts below.
Unfortunately, he has no other option right now for centerback, with Olave and Schuler hurt. Wingert is not the best option, but I don’t see another one, either.
I really wish RSL would stop trying Wingert at Centerback. I can’t recall a game where he played at centerback where we’ve given up less than 2 goals. I know Kreis may not be as comfortable with his CB depth (he really only rotates Schuler, Olave, and Borchers), but Wingert there is not the answer.
Crew are a small market club that lacks star power but invests heavily in depth. Both teams are riddled with injuries at the moment but the Crew have had some second line guys like Williams, Tchani, Meram and particularly the goalie Gruenebaum really step up. Their big problem has been generating a consistent offense with a revolving door of midfielders and strikers. Expect the Crew to stay in the running for the last playoff spots but they will not do better than that until they can get their best offensive talent in the right positions and get to play together consistently.