Thanks to its 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy last Saturday (Oct. 4) - in front of a black-clad, standing-room-only crowd of 22,685 that included Gov. Ted Strickland at Crew Stadium - the Crew heads into its match at rival Chicago today, as the newly-crowned 2008 regular-season Eastern Conference Champion. The Crew (16-6-5, 53 pts.) heads into today’s match needing just three points in its last three matches to secure the 2008 MLS Supporters’ Shield, while Chicago (12-9-6, 42 pts.) enters the match needing a win or tie against the Crew to become the fourth team (CLB, HOU, N.E.) to secure a berth in the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Today’s match which kicks off at 3 p.m. and will be televised live locally on ONN, with Dwight Burgess and Dante Washington calling all the action. The match will also air live nationally on TeleFutura as its weekly Sunday MLS match. The game can be heard in English on The Brew @ 105.7 (PLEASE NOTE CHANGE) and on-line at theCrew.com and MLSNet.com, with Neil Sika behind the microphone, as well as in Spanish on La Que Buena 1550-AM, with Eduardo Carvacho on the call.
Chicago enters today’s match after drawing with Kansas City, 1-1, last Sunday (Oct. 5) thanks to a penalty kick goal by Cuauhtemoc Blanco in first half stoppage time. The Fire is now 2-2-1 in its last five games, and needs a win or draw with the Black & Gold on Sunday to secure its spot in the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs. Chicago is led by Mexican icon Blanco, who has six goals and eight assists on the season, and former Crew forward and U.S. international Brian McBride, who rejoined MLS earlier this season after four-and-a-half successful seasons with Fulham FC of the English Premier League. McBride was originally selected by the Crew with the first overall pick of Major League Soccer in its inaugural draft in 1996. He went on to play eight seasons in the Black & Gold, finishing his Crew career with 62 goals and 45 assists in 161 league games and his total of 62 goals is still tied with Jeff Cunningham for the Columbus franchise record. McBride was selected to eight MLS All-Star games, with seven appearances, in his time in Columbus, and he was also selected to the MLS All-Time Best XI in 2005 as part of the league’s 10th anniversary. Today will be the first time in McBride’s career that he has suited up against his former squad in an MLS match.
The Crew enters today’s match on the heels of its victory over L.A., behind a goal by Alejandro Moreno in the closing minutes for the first half. The win moved the Crew’s unbeaten streak to eight games, and Moreno’s goal was his ninth of the season, setting a new career season-high. As a result of its victory, the Crew moved one step closer to the 2008 Supporters’ Shield. Houston is the only club that still has a chance to catch the Crew for the award, as the Dynamo need to win each of their four remaining games, while the Crew would have to fail to secure three total points in last three remaining matches for the two-time defending champions to unseat the Black & Gold.
With 16 victories, MLS Coach of the Year candidate Sigi Schmid has now tied his career high for regular-season wins in a season, established by his 2002 L.A. Galaxy squad that went on to win MLS Cup. Schmid will return to the fold for the Crew this weekend after serving a one-game suspension last Saturday (Oct. 4). Columbus will be without defender Frankie Hejduk (USA) and forward Alejandro Moreno (Venezuela) today, who are both away on international duty.
Today’s match will be the second and final between the Eastern Conference rivals in the 2008 regular season. In the first meeting, a 2-2 draw at Crew Stadium July 5, Ohio native Chris Rolfe put the Fire up early with a goal in the 8th minute, then assisted on Calen Carr’s tally in the 25th minute. Nigerian Olympian Emmanuel Ekpo cut the deficit in half for the Crew before the halftime whistle, and the Crew got a goal in dying moments of the match from rookie forward Steven Lenhart to salvage the draw at home. The clubs will square off in a MLS Reserve Division match immediately following the league match.
Tags: Tonight's Game
October 14th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I don’t mean to be ignorant, but while watching the recap of the game in Chicago, I noticed that it looked to me like Brian McBride used his arm to deflect the ball before he scored his first goal. It’s at about 1:15-1:25 in the video. Am I imagining it? Is that a hand ball or am I mistaken in it not being a hand ball? Wouldn’t that be a red card? Could someone explain this to me? Thanks!!!