Crew new boy Glauber scored his first MLS goal, but it wasn’t enough to secure all three points as Columbus drew their home opener against San Jose Earthquakes on a very chilly March evening at Crew Stadium in front of 16,528 fans.
The new look Crew has a more offensive look over last season, but for the majority of Saturdays game flattered to deceive with a lot of possession yet few clear scoring chances. Dominic Odoru and Hiquain looked good on the ball but failed to break through the San Jose defense while forward Jairo Arrietta worked tirelessly running into space but was never given the service needed.
Of the two goal keepers it was the Crew’s Andy Gruenebaum who was kept the busiest, making a handful of decent saves to keep San Jose from scoring and it seemed likely the game was always going to be a low scoring affair.
The Crew managed to break the dead-lock in the second half when Glauber’s head connected with Higuain’s corner kick. The goal came after a decent spell of pressure from the home team and it felt as though the team would go on to win the game.
Unfortunately the lead only lasted a little over 5 minutes before Justin Marrow struck the ball across Andy Gruenebaum and into the Crew goal.
The final fifteen minutes of the game saw both teams push for the winning goal as the Crew pushed more players forward and San Jose played on the break whenever a Crew attack broke down, however, neither team was able to score again and the game ended at 1-1.
The Crew next travel to D.C. before returning to Crew Stadium on April 6 when they face Philadelphia at 5pm.
Crew Starting XI: Gruenebaum; Williams, Marshall, Glauber, Wahl; Oduro, O’Rourke, Viana, Speas; Higuain, Arrieta
Matt Ellis is a freelance photographer who covers bands that visit the city and the Columbus Crew MLS team. More about Matt can be found at Matt Ellis Photography.