Takeaways: Columbus Crew give 'inexcusable' performance, Zelarayan struggles in 3-0 loss to Philadelphia Union

The Crew talked about treating every game the rest of the way like a cup final. 

They needed to, being five points out of a playoff spot with seven games to go heading into Sunday’s match at Philadelphia Union, the team in the final spot with one fewer game played. 

Instead, the Crew executed like it was a throwaway game in the preseason out in Tuscon or Charleston. They deservedly lost 3-0 and might’ve watched any last hopes of making the playoffs fade away as a result. 

"We started poor with the ball. We gave away the ball far too much,” coach Caleb Porter said. “We were defending OK, weren't giving away many chances. Then we gave away an extremely poor goal.” 

The Crew (9-12-7, 34 points) allowed a 25th minute goal from Jack Elliott on a 30-yard free kick that Porter said shouldn’t have been a goal, even without a wall. In the opening minute of the second half, forward Gyasi Zardes turned the ball over in the attacking third. Philadelphia midfielder Alejandro Bedoya sprinted over 30 yards with the ball and passed down the right flank to forward Kacper Przybylko who crossed back to Bedoya for a 2-0 lead. 

In the 89th minute, after a couple huge saves from goalkeeper Andre Blake to keep the Crew off the scoreboard, midfielder Leon Flach’s shot went through the hands of goalkeeper Evan Bush for the third goal for Philadelphia (11-7-9, 42 points). 

Columbus Crew:Can't overcome two-goal deficit up a man, lose at Philadelphia Union

“The second one was the backbreaker,” center back Josh Williams said. “At this point of the year — it's definitely a lack of focus, lack of passion. It's just so inexcusable to me. I'm embarrassed by that performance what just happened out there, from top to bottom. I'm at a loss for words to describe how the hell we come out and we do that. 

Williams was bitterly frustrated after the game. He made sure the blame was on the players and not anyone else. 

"That's just not a championship performance,” Williams said. “We have aspirations of competing with the best teams in this league and you just can't play like that, man. We have everything on the line. Everything on the line. We still have a chance to keep the rest of the season in our hands and we come out and we do that. That blows my mind. 

“I'm involved in that as well,” Williams continued. “I place myself in that as well. It's a team thing. I'm not putting the blame on any individual, a couple guys — it's everybody. But I tell you who it's not. It's not the staff. It's not Caleb. It's not anybody else but the guys that were on the pitch, guys that were in the locker room. It's embarrassing. It's shocking. I don't understand it." 

No one in that locker room is going to say making the playoffs is over until it’s mathematically impossible. But the Crew know what they’re up against. Six points out with six games left essentially calls for winning five games, minimum. 

After Sunday night, who knows what to expect, which is particularly disappointing given how well the Crew played against CF Montreal and Liga MX club Cruz Azul in the previous two games. 

"How (do) we go from two really good performances to a not-so-good performance when everybody in that locker room knew what they were up against and knew what was at stake?” Porter said. “Individual performances were markedly different than the other two games this week, and for me, there's no excuse.” 

Here are some takeaways from the match. 

Lucas Zelarayan, attack struggles with turnovers 

The biggest disappointment from Porter’s view was how many times the Crew gave the ball away and generally struggled to maintain possession at all when attacking. 

"There were just too many turnovers,” Porter said. “It wasn't quick enough, sharp enough, too much dribbling. We just didn't move the ball quick enough. It was very careless.” 

The Crew came out in a 3-4-3 formation with Lucas Zelarayan, Gyasi Zardes and Pedro Santos up top. Throughout the match — mostly before Philadelphia defender Kai Wagner was sent off with a second yellow card in the 64th minute — the Crew would have a pass Zelarayan, Zardes or Santos and either have it disrupted by the Union, or one of them would lose it within seconds. 

Porter said the Crew needed to move the ball from one side to the other quicker, and Zelarayan and Santos had to do a better job of getting the ball out quickly instead of holding onto it and allowing the Union to collapse on the ball. Right back Steven Moreira and left back Milton Valenzuela also struggled to connect passes. 

Zelarayan coughed up the ball several times around the box. On back-to-back possessions in the 57th and 58th minutes, Zelarayan lost possession after a good pass from Nagbe to get the ball at the edge of the 18-yard box. The next time he had the ball around the box, he attempted a pass into the box to winger Derrick Etienne Jr. that was cleared away. 

Zelarayan has done plenty of good things this season and will be a big part of the Crew’s future. But he has struggled for stretches throughout this season. On Sunday, his 75.6% passing percentage was below his season average, and he had just one key pass with 78 touches. 

Zelarayan has now scored just one goal in 11 games and has just one assist in his last 10 games. 

Talking generally, Porter said there were way too many individual performances that were a ways off from the past couple games. 

"We have to find a way mentally and physically to perform better,” he said. “And we have some players I think need to, yeah, think a little bit about their performance today because we had a wide range from Montreal and Cruz Azul to this game three days later. We need more consistency.” 

Andre Blake prevents Crew's comeback

The Crew had a 1.3 expected goals value (xG), with the majority of that coming from Pedro Santos’ penalty shot in the 76th minute that was stopped by the reigning goalkeeper of the year. 

Blake dove to his left and stopped Santos’ penalty that could’ve put the Crew within striking distance with 14-plus minutes remaining. Santos’ only two goals this season have come from the penalty spot. 

Like he normally does, he waited for the goalkeeper to make the first move. But Blake stood firm and waited for Santos to make his choice before making the stop. 

Just four minutes later, Blake outdid himself with a save on midfielder Darlington Nagbe. From the top-center of the 18-yard box, Nagbe placed a ball perfectly toward the upper-right corner. Blake made an incredible leaping, diving save that will certainly be among the best saves of the year.

jmyers@dispatch.com

@_jcmyers

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