Lone DC Goal leaves Crew feeling low
By Giles Kennedy, Columbus Wired


Battling the best team in the Eastern Conference wasn’t enough to bolster the Crew (4-7-6) to a win. D.C. United (12-1-5) shot them down with flagrant fouls and punch-happy defense.
DC United forward Alecko Eskandrian, eventually thrown out after getting a red card, scored through the right side on a penalty kick in the 42nd minute to give DC United a 1-0 lead and the victory over the slumping Crew.

"I was simply embarrassed for the city of Columbus, the quality of team we were giving them;" Crew Head Coach Sigi Schmid answered when the press simply asked the dreaded question; What went wrong?

DC’s 17 year-old midfielder Freddy Adu did fire the first shots on goal from the corner at 4:39 and 4:57. No goal. It did look hopeful; if even for the moment.

That moment, like the dismal look of the Crew's performance, passed, passed and passed.

The yellow cards came a plenty like their last home match, seeing fouls committed by United’s longtime middy Ben Olsen, Crew defender Marcos Gonzalez, and fellow defender Chad Marshall.

Just in the first half , fouls racked up with Columbus earning 7 and DC United earning 11.Meeting with DC United has been anything but a friendly match. Columbus got knocked out of MLS Cup contention with a United 4-0 win back on November 13th, 1999.

The intensity and extreme pressure for Columbus and DC has been on since that match. The last meeting in RFK Stadium this year gave DC a tie, 1-1 on May 20th.
Then, of course the Memorial Day match at Crew Stadium with United winning 1-5. So much for playing nice.

The 41st minute brought a yellow card and penalty kick to Columbus’ defender Jose Retiz. This was the first one of the match for Reitz, surprising. He was bringing a foot to the side of DC midfielder Ben Olsen. Go figure, maybe the two guys were just frustrated.

"Games like this," Retiz stated, "we just got to keep on playing."

When the line up for the block came up, the nail put in Columbus' coffin from Eskandrian slammed the right side past Crew players with limited coverage on the left and center.

Crew 0, DC United 1.

Crew head coach Sigi Schmid was far from happy with the performance, especially the supposed block of the penalty goal. "If you have no walls, the shot will go through," Schmid commented.

DC Defender Bobby Boswell and Columbus hired gun Jose Retiz came together at the 47th minute. The whole incident saw Retiz go down like a flapping fish; as for Boswell's actions and hair resembled a 80's metal rocker going after a crazed fan.

Boswell came out of it, penalized for reckless foul (one of many by DC United).

The free kick had Eddie Gaven attempt a shot, no result. A minute later, forward Jacob Thomas tried. Missed opportunities were unfortunately a mainstay of the evening.

"We have got to get a win," Crew forward Jacob Thomas relented, "We have been playing good on the road."

The last win was against Dallas in Pizza Hut Park on June 3rd, Columbus 2, FC Dallas 1. The rest have been heart breaking ties against New England, Chivas USA at home, New York and Houston.

No more than the fouls kept flying, the 14,134 fans at Crew Stadium kept their spirits up. The 65th minute brought a confrontation between DC’s thug Alecko Eskandrian and Columbus’ boxing defender Marcos Gonzalez. Gonzalez initially hit Eskandrian, but Eskandrian came back pushing and rapping Gonzalez in the head.

The red card and ejection was issued to Eskandrian for violent conduct.

The Crew lose 0-1. Their next match is traveling to meet DC again on July 15th, they return home for a Wednesday night bout with the New York Red Bulls.