If you can deal with speed, you’re going to have a lot of success defending Columbus’s Dominic Oduro. Unfortunately for Dallas, the Crew attacker burned them badly on two Sunday goals, the result seeing FCD’s playoff hopes a debilitating blow.
Columbus, on the other hand, are the hottest team in the East. Winners of four of their last five, the Crew find themselves one point out of a playoff spot after Sunday’s 4-2 win in Frisco, one which saw goals from Federico Higuaín, Jairo Arrieta, Oduro and Bernardo Anor push them into a tie for sixth in their conference.
But although the goals were spread out, it was Oduro, in combination with poor defending by Dallas, that decided this one. On the second goal, the Crew’s leading scorer pulled away from Dallas midfielder Erick before setting up Arrieta. And on Columbus’s third goal, after Dallas had closed to within one, Oduro beats Matt Hedges to a bouncing ball in midfield, eventually putting himself in alone on Raul Fernandez.
Columbus wasn’t immune to their own terrible defending, as Dallas’s second goal shows, but once Anor’s insurance tally went in, Brian Bliss had yet another win, one that pushes his team to 41 points on the year. Though they’ve played one more game than their Eastern Conference competition, the Crew sit one point back of fifth place Philadelphia (and even with sixth place New England).
Dallas, on the other hand, are left five points back of idle Colorado with four games left. Arguably more important: They’ll have to beat out three teams to claim that final postseason spot.
Given the performance we saw tonight, that’s unlikely to happen. If one of these teams is going to be playing soccer in November, it’s going to be Columbus.