Drilling down on: Columbus 2, at Seattle 0

Man of the Match: You can go two ways on this one, and just so I don’t cop-out (again), I’ll let you know which way I leaned. Andy Greunebaum came up with big saves when Columbus needed them, stifling two very good Seattle chances early in the second half. You can go with him, or you can be an arrogant, elitist snob like me and argue the number of times Sebastian Miranda was tested and passed in the first half deserves the recognition. Miranda, in truth, wasn’t exceptional, but the pure number of times he deterred Seattle gets my nod.

Packaged for takeaway:

• Individual breakdowns. Sigi Schmid harped on individual breakdowns after the match, and he had every right to. Whether we’re talking about the two goals or the open chance Alvaro Fernandez missed right before half time, Seattle’s players didn’t step up when given the chance to do so.
• But take nothing away form Columbus. Every time they get a surprise result, people moan about their perceived quality and claim the other team played down to the Crew’s level. Guess what? Columbus is now 4-4-3. Columbus is now fifth in the East. Columbus is now a decent team.
• And that decent team executed. On the first goal, Dilly Duka played a left-footed cross in from the right flank to hit Justin Meram, who got a surprise start at left wing. Low and behold the matchup of a forward against a full back on a cross went the way of the bigger man.
• And on the second goal, yes, Bryan Meredith was off his line, but Emilio Renteria also had to hit a 24-yard ball that got over him but under the bar. Blame where blame’s due, but credit where credit’s due, too.
• It really is interesting to see how much of Seattle build up goes through Osvaldo Alonso in the first two-thirds.
• Eddie Johnson had another mixed night. He always seemed to find a way to get on the ball, but he never did anything with it.
• Watch David Estrada work. He tracks back much deeper than his opposite winger, and as Alonso and Brad Evans go forward (or, in Evans’ case, wide), he’s more than willing to sit in the middle of the park. There may be no harder working wide player in the league, right now. The question, though, is whether it’s good for him to have to jump into so many holes.
• Renteria had a goal, and he was also credited with one of those fun MLS second assists, but the moment that jumped out to me was the counter attack he slowed down late in the first half. Columbus often plays nine of their 10 out-field players behind the midfield’s last man, leaving their forward all alone. Renteria doesn’t have the speed to get the Crew into counterattacks, a tactic they need to utilize if they’re going to play so deep. Then again, what do I know? Dude had a goal and an assist.
• One other note on Columbus’s deployment. Eddie Gaven and Dilly Duka played very close to each other, and when Danny O’Rourke (before he left with an ankle injury) or Cole Grossman jumped into the play, it created a quick bursts of short passes in an overloaded area. For a brief spell in the first half, the Crew opened a number of eyes by playing some very un-Crew soccer.