In the not-so-distant past, Columbus Crew SC struggled mightily to earn even a point from their road matches. They only mustered four points from the 27 available following their first nine trips away from MAPFRE Stadium this year.
But after a 2-1 win against New York City FC on Saturday, the club has earned all three points in three of their last four away games. And while they might have been thrilled with any road win just a few months ago, now Crew SC feel like they should be winning by an even greater margin.
“I think we made it a little harder on ourselves than we had to,” midfielder Wil Trapp told reporters after the match. “We had a lot of chances first half and second half – not just half chances, but very good chances – that maybe another day, I think we finish. In the end we got the three points, which is most important.”
Crew SC head coach Gregg Berhalter and his players were openly disappointed with a draw in the last match against NYCFC just 10 days ago, and the New York City players may have added some extra incentive with their pregame comments ahead of the match.
“It’s a big three points for us,” defender Michael Parkhurst said. “It was an Eastern Conference game that was a big one. They had talked all week about how it was a huge game for them and they needed three points, and I thought it was a complete performance from us. I think we dominated from start to finish.”
Just three points behind D.C. United as of Saturday night, Columbus are showing signs of competing for the top spot in the East. And for Parkhurst, the work is far from over.
“We think we’ve put ourselves in a good position now, but we still want to attack,” Parkhurst said. “We want to attack D.C., we want to attack the [New York] Red Bulls and put some pressure on them. We play them both still at the end of the season, so every game is important from here on out. The table is really tight in the East, it still is, but we’re right in the thick of it.”
Does Berhalter see his team as a competitor for the East? For now, at least, he’s sticking with his refrain of taking one match at a time.
“I feel like we have a good group,” he said. “What I like about the group is that everyone wants to contribute. We talked about that last week – whether it’s guys that are not in the 18, in the 18 or starters, everyone wants to contribute to the success of the team, and that goes a long way.”
Andrew King covers Columbus Crew SC for MLSsoccer.com.
