By VINCE MADURI
The Columbus Crew and San Jose Earthquakes battled to a 1-1 draw Saturday in a game neither team looked at their best offensively and defenses ruled.
Justin Morrow tied the game at one apiece in the 73rd minute after the Earthquakes had fallen behind just five minutes earlier.
Morrow pushed far up the field and was not accounted for by the Columbus defense. Ramiro Corrales found Morrow out wide left and the defender fired the tying goal passed Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum.
Five minutes earlier, Ramiro Corrales had lost his marker, Brazilian defender Glauber, on a Columbus corner. Federico Higuain found Glauber, who headed the ball passed Jon Busch for the opening goal.
Over the last 15 minutes of play, Columbus pushed for the winning goal, but couldn’t create anything substantial as Higuain was not quite at his best in this match, and the Argentine playmaker never seemed to be on the same page with Jairo Arrieta.
Chris Wondolowski struggled to find space as Chad Marshall marked the reigning MVP most the game. Wondolowski had one terrific opportunity to open the scoring in the 61st minute when he found space about five yards from goal, but Tyson Wahl slipped in front of the striker to block the shot and the rebound was cleared by Marshall.
Overall, the match probably deserved a tied result with possession being split 53% in favor of the Crew and shots on goal being completely split with five to each team.
Both teams start the season 1-1-1, still looking to hit their strides.
Here are the match highlights: