Olay! Crew slays Reds Bulls 1–0 over KC
By Mark Hofmann, Columbus Wired Contributor, Photos by Dave Liggett and Joel Torres (Columbus Wired)

Olay, Olay Olay Olay, Olay the Crew slay the New York Reds Bulls 1 – 0. The Nordecke chant is not quite the same as a traditional Bullfight crowd cheer when they yell out a single group Olay, but the win against the Red Bulls was as inevitable as a Matador besting a bull.

The waving of the red (muleta) cape in front of a bull to intentionally provoke him was accomplished by The Crew management scheduling a pregame ceremony to hand out the 2008 championship rings.

The Crew beat the Red Bulls in the MLS Championship game last year and scheduling the ring presentation in front of the losers most likely was not coincidental.

The Picadores weaken a bull for a Matador by spearing it multiple times prior to the fight. The Red Bulls were playing their second road game of the week having lost to Toronto on Wednesday.

A depleted line-up minus their star forward Juan Pablo Angel (hamstring), seasoned suspended defender Mike Petke and injured defender Kevin Goldwaite had to face an unusually healthy, rested and available Crew roster.

Alee, (Alejandro Moreno) he played in Dallas, and then he played against Mexico in Atlanta, so we gave him the night off. Obviously we didn’t have to use him today.”

Coach Warzycha’s comment about shuffling the line-up and starting Steven Lenhart as forward in place of Moreno, speaks to the advantage of roster options The Crew had over their opponent entering into the match.

“I’m disappointed, I think against a very good attacking team we limited them in the first half to set plays” was Red Bulls Coach Juan Carlos Osorio’s opening statement about the games outcome.

Osorio’s words and going with a 4 – 5 – 1, defensive minded, formation to start the match reflected a strategy of slowing his teams bleeding with a tie, not a goal of trying to win the contest.

The Red Bulls had not won an away game in twenty-one tries going into the match and had a record of 0-9-1 and have been outscored 17-1 in away matches this season. It is not hard to see why the team was mentally defeated before the first kick of the contest.

Though the Red Bulls charged out aggressively and tried to disrupt The Crews offensive attack, they were content with allowing the Crew to hold possession and offensively only produced two (2) shots and one half chance semi-dangerous attack in the entire first half.

The Red Bulls first half of play mirrored when a bull first enters the ring. The top bullfighter, called the Matador sits back and watches his chief assistant wave a bright yellow and magenta cape in front of the bull to make it charge. The observation is used to determine the bull's qualities and mood, before taking over himself.

Lenhart, Gaven, Rogers run of play charges along with set play attacks by Brunner, generated eight (8) shots with two (2) shots on goal for Matador (Guillermo Barros Schelotto) to observe and size up New York’s bullish defense.

“During the first half they played 4-5-1, which was very difficult for us to break the defensive line, we created a couple chance especially on set pieces” was coaches Warzycha’s description of The Crew’s offensive efforts for the first forty-five (45) minutes.

During a bullfight the faena (task) is the most beautiful and skillful section of the fight where the matador proves his courage and artistry. The faena consists of a running at the bull carrying a muleta. (A piece of thick crimson cloth draped over a short stick).

The faena during the soccer game was Schelotto using Roger’s and Lenhart to take ownership of the left flank. Moving the ball at will up forward and back via a series of one touch passes and maintaining a lopsided majority of first half possession.

The set piece volleys were used like the muleta (cape) is used to manipulate the bull. Each probing set piece ball delivery used to determine how the defense might respond, logged in the mind of the experienced observant Matador.

Once the Matador had finished displaying his superiority over the bull it is time for him to use the espado (the killing sword) to end the fight.

“I don’t have the answer for us considering a goal seems like always goes in the last minute of the first half” was coach Osorio’s comment in regard to the closing seconds header tallied by Chad Marshall.

The sequence of events to deny the Red Bulls any chance of points started with defender Carlos Mendes going out due to injury and being replaced by a midfielder.

The loss of a defender with two other defenders already unable to play was like the matador’s assistant spear thrust into an already open and vulnerable wound.

Next Eddie Gaven hustled down the right flank to recover a ball and earn The Crew a right side corner kick. Schelotto’s corner kick (muleta) in connected with Steven Lenhart’s head.

The header was redirected on frame with velocity enough to beat the keeper, but not the head of a supporting Red Bull defender who deflected it out and concede The Crew another right side corner kick.

Schelotto’s second corner kick was flighted to the far post and bent away from goal. It found driving Chad Marshall’s head.
From high in the air, like a Picadore riding on the back of a blindfolded horse, Marshall sent the killing sword (espado) past the keeper’s outstretched finger tips and into the left corner of the goal.

The Red Bulls had started the first half with a lot of defensive energy. Having staved off several attacks they were starting to gain some confidence that maybe they could keep the slate clean or maybe even have a late counter in the second half to steal a win.

However, another closing half score, an event which has been plaguing them in several recent matches did change their fortune. Like the fallen bull in the ring, not yet dead, the single goal was going to stand up as the killing blow.

“They came out with a little bit extra motivation and to hold them like we did and to really limit them to basically nothing at all. The one off the post (Rojas’s shot) would have went into Hesmer’s hands if it didn’t deflect off of Brunner. We showed a lot of heart and a lot of character.” was Frankie Hejduk’s summation regarding the team’s defensive play.

The Red Bulls did try to attack and equal in the second half. But like the single dying bull in the ring with multiple adversaries the odds were not in the Red Bulls favor.

Will Hesmer explained the clean sheet effort as, “when we collectively defend with eleven like we did tonight we are really hard to break down, and for the most part we limited their chances, we gave them a little bit too much space in the second half but I think overall we are happy.”

Olay, olay olay olay, olay was heard by the appreciative 15,575 spectators as they drug the dying bull out of the arena. You could also hear the Nordecke crowd chanting, “This is our house, get, um, get your bleeding carcass out”, yeah that’s what they were shouting.

The Crew find themselves tied in second place in the Eastern Conference. But with several teams with games in hand below them they need your support. We play 1st place DC United this Saturday at 7 pm. Come out on the Forth of July and let’s cheer The Crew back into 1st place in the division.