The Columbus Crew returned from a ten-day break on Saturday night, only to suffer a second straight two-goal defeat. Thierry Henry scored twice, including the game winner directly from a corner kick. Perhaps the worst news for the Crew, however, was an injury to goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum that forced him from the game after diving head first into the goalpost.
After a midsummer surge where the team rattled off six wins and two draws in nine games, the Crew have now dropped two consecutive road games - raising fears of a third consecutive late-season slide. In each of the last two seasons, a six-game winless streak in September sent the team stumbling into the playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round.
In 2012, with the Eastern Conference featuring a much stronger group of teams, the specter of missing the playoffs is beginning to emerge. Columbus now trails DC United by two points for the final playoff spot; both teams have six games left to play. Montreal lurks another three points behind, although the expansion team has only four games left in their season.
The teams traded a pair of goals in the game's opening moments. Columbus struck first as Milovan Mirosevic scored his third goal of the season. The Chilean midfielder, striking a more offensive posture in the absence of Federico Higuain, converted a cross from Jairo Arrieta in just the third minute.
Six minutes later the game was again level. Thierry Henry, after missing connections several times in the opening minutes, finally timed his run through the defense correctly as he received a long pass arcing over the back line from Rafa Marquez. The former Arsenal striker made no mistake from the heart of the penalty area, shooting to Gruenebaum's right.
Both teams sorted out their defenses after the early strikes. Both teams were able to find space on the flanks; New York avoided the attention of Danny O'Rourke at holding midfield while at the other end of the field, the Crew shied away from the presence of Rafa Marquez.
The Red Bulls also attempted several times to chip long balls behind the Columbus defense, attempting to set Thierry Henry or Kenny Cooper in a foot race with Chad Marshall and Julius James.
Columbus showed a marked improvement from their last game, a stumbling performance in New England that capped a stretch of seven games in 21 days. At Red Bull Arena, particularly in the first half, the midfield several times put together strings of one-touch passes that were nowhere to be seen in Foxboro.
New York narrowly missed an opportunity in the 39th minute when Julius James was able to just deflect a cross with a well-timed leap. The ball still reached Rafa Marquez from close range, but he was unable to react to the deflection; leaning back to reach the ball he sent his shot too high and over the crossbar.
On the hour mark, New York replaced Rafa Marquez with Teemu Tainio, to the detriment of the Red Bulls' attempts to throw long passes into space - a tactic they largely abandoned over the final half hour.
Columbus countered with a substitution of their own in the 65th minute, replacing Dilly Duka with Justin Meram. Duka was one of the only attacking players willing to try and dribble past defenders, but was frequently unsuccessful.
New York took the lead in the 79th minute on a play whose repercussions may be felt in Columbus for some time. Andy Gruenebaum first produced a jaw-dropping save on Thierry Henry, leaping from a prone position to push Henry's shot off the crossbar and out of bounds. Henry sent the subsequent corner kick to the far post, where Dax McCarty headed home into the upper corner.
Andy Gruenebaum suffered a freak injury on the corner kick. As he attempted to get a hand on McCarty's shot he misjudged his position in the goal mouth, colliding head first with the post. After receiving medical attention for more than five minutes, the team was forced to replace him with rookie Matt Lampson.
Lampson was victimized in the third minute of stoppage time for the game's final goal. Henry, preparing to take a corner kick from Columbus' right flank, spotted Lampson too far off his line and sent an inch-perfect ball curling to the back post, where it deflected into the goal.
The Crew had one last opportunity to grab a late consolation goal, but New York was able to clear a shot off the goal line from Federico Higuain's corner kick.
What it means
The Crew's second straight loss, combined with victories positive results from Houston, Chicago, DC and New York, leaves the Crew in sixth position in the Eastern Conference - two points out of the playoffs.
New York, with 49 points on the season, is now two points behind conference leaders Kansas City. They are part of a three-team chase for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, increasingly separated from a quartet of teams struggling for the final two playoff spots.
Timeline of events
3' 1-0 Milovan Mirosevic (Jairo Arrieta)
9' 1-1 Thierry Henry (Rafa Marquez)
10' Corner kick, Columbus (right side) - through the box and cleared
28' Corner kick, New York (right) - into the mix and cleared
29' Corner kick, New York (left) - headed clear
44' Corner kick, Columbus (right) - cleared
49' Caution, Julius James (professional foul on Rafa Marquez)
56' Caution, Tim Cahill (reckless foul on Milovan Mirosevic)
60' Teemu Tainio replaces Rafa Marquez
61' Corner kick, Columbus (right) - headed clear
61' Corner kick, Columbus (left) - cleared from in front of goal
65' Justin Meram replaces Dilly Duka
68' Joel Lindpere replaces Jan Gunnar Solli
75' Corner kick, Columbus (right) - Williams shoots wide
79' Sebastien Le Toux replaces Kenny Cooper
79' Corner kick, New York (left) - headed goal
79' 1-2 Dax McCarty (Thierry Henry)
85' Andy Gruenebaum replaced by Matt Lampson
89' Corner kick, New York (left) - headed long
90' Federico Higuain replaces Sebastian Miranda
91+' Corner kick, New York (right) - long
93+' Corner kick, New York (right) - goal
93+' 1-3 Thierry Henry (unassisted)
100+' Corner kick, Columbus (right) - cleared off the line
Attendance
17,134
Lineups
Columbus Crew
Andy Gruenebaum (Matt Lampson 79'), Sebastian Miranda (Federico Higuain 90'), Chad Marshall, Julius James, Josh Williams, Danny O'Rourke, Milovan Mirosevic, Eddie Gaven, Tony Tchani, Dilly Duka (Justin Meram 65'), Jairo Arrieta
Unused subs
Nemanja Vukovic, Cole Grossman, Chris Birchall, Emilio Renteria
New York Red Bulls
Bill Gaudette, Wilman Conde, Heath Pearce, Markus Holgersson, Connor Lade, Rafael Marquez (Teemu Tainio 60'), Jan Gunnar Solli (Joel Lindpere 68'), Tim Cahill, Dax McCarty, Thierry Henry, Kenny Cooper (Sebastien Le Toux 79')
Unused Subs
Brandon Barklage, Stephen Keel, Lloyd Sam, Luis Robles
Up next
Columbus will play three of their next four games at home, starting this Wednesday against Chivas USA. Next weekend brings a trip to Chicago before home games the following two weeks against Philadelphia and Kansas City.
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