Berhalter’s ‘gamble’ works out for Crew SC in 1st leg of conference semis
Photo credit: Kevin Johnston/Soc Takes
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Facing the league’s best defense of the Supporters’ Shield-winning New York Red Bulls in the first leg of the conference semis, Columbus Crew SC head coach Gregg Berhalter decided to gamble.
With a key player on fatigued legs and another injured, Berhalter rolled the dice with different personnel than he deployed in the regular-season finale and Knockout Round. Luis Argudo stepped into the midfield with workhorse Federico Higuain needing a reprieve, while Patrick Mullins also featured in the XI with Niko Hansen hurt.
“We took a gamble,” Berhalter explained. “We don’t normally do that.”
It worked — sort of. Whether it “worked” is up for debate, but it “worked out” without question.
Crew SC topped the Red Bulls 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at MAPFRE Stadium on a sublime second-half link up from Milton Valenzuela to Higuian to Gyasi Zardes, who slotted past RBNY goalkeeper Luis Robles. Higuain’s assist came on a back heel.
“I have to,” Higuain said of his cheeky flick. “It’s my job. I’m a No. 10, I have to try to do something different.”
Just. PURE. 💛
That pass from Milton, tho 😬#CrewSC | #ClaimGlory | #CLBvRBNY | 1-0 pic.twitter.com/BGwbNhRALE
— Columbus Crew SC #ClaimGlory (@ColumbusCrewSC) November 4, 2018
Berhalter’s decision, however, forced Argudo and striker Patrick Mullins into a rigorous assignment. Facing the likes of Tyler Adams, Tim Parker and Aaron Long, the Crew attack sputtered out of the gates without some of its key cogs.
The first quality chance for either team came in the 17th minute when Justin Meram got in behind the defense and cut in from the end line, but his low cross was astutely cut off by Robles. On the whole, Crew SC — sorely missing Higuain — found it difficult to generate much offensively in the first half. The hosts only took three shots before the break and none were on frame.
The insertion of Higuain to begin the second half immediately altered the complexion of the match. “Pipa” found pockets of space against the stoutest defense in MLS and the Crew suddenly looked like a squad confidently seeking a win instead of praying for a result.
“I spoke to ‘Pipa’ at length and got a feeling for where he was at,” Berhalter said. “He actually recovered really well and was in a position to potentially start the game. But we felt that we needed something else in the first half. We needed power. We needed to stretch them. We needed to open them up. We needed to really get after it in the first half, and then thinking about will (Higuain) be able to maintain that for 90 minutes?”
The offense, with Mullins and Argudo filling in, didn’t really give Berhalter what he was hoping for in the first half. In that regard the tactic failed, but sitting nil-nil at halftime with a fresh “Pipa” and Pedro Santos available is far from the worst situation to be in.
Sure enough, Higuian immediately kick-started the attack and Zardes’ lone goal ended up being enough with Zack Steffen and the defense preserving a clean sheet. Santos came on later in the second half and tested Robles from distance on more than one occasion.
Crew SC fullbacks Harrison Afful and Valenzuela turned in impactful shifts. Valenzuela was awarded a secondary assist for his dissecting pass that set up Higuain’s back heel, and Afful made himself a regular nuisance attacking up the right side.
But among an array of solid performances by Columbus players in the victory, Higuain’s game-changing presence off the bench stood out. Red Bulls head coach Chris Armas took notice, though he certainly wasn’t surprised by it.
“Of course he’s quality, right?” Armas said of Higuain. “He’s a guy that you have to keep an eye on. We knew that. We game planned to have him in from the start or other. He hurt us on the one play, but we limited him most of the night.”
The teams will take to Red Bull Arena for next Sunday’s second leg with Columbus clinging to a 1-0 aggregate lead.
Follow Kevin on Twitter:Â @KJboxing.
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