For a team that has been creating chances but not goals, Crew SC’s three-goal outburst against New York City FC on Saturday had to bring some welcome relief. Not only did the Black & Gold get goals from Ethan Finlay, Kei Kamara and Justin Meram, but with Federico Higuain’s assist on the latter’s goal, the Columbus attacking quartet all appeared on the scoresheet for the fifth time since the start of the 2015 season.
“To have those guys get off the mark, and the way they scored, with the interaction between them, was huge for us,” said midfielder Wil Trapp. “When those guys are firing on all cylinders, it’s very tough to stop.”
Meram created the first goal (and a few other chances) by taking the ball left, to the endline, and then cutting the ball back with a pass. In the 7th minute, his pass found a trailing Finlay, who slammed it into the net for a 1-0 lead. Meram is famous for cutting the ball inside to his right foot, then unleashing The Meathook, a curling shot that has been known to find the corner of the net. On Saturday, that history may have played to his advantage. As the defenders played for the Meathook, he cut to his left and beat them around the edge at the endline.
“I can shoot with both feet and I can dribble either side, so I’m going to put the defender on his heels,” Meram said. “They might know I want to go inside but tonight I decided to go down the endline and Ethan made a great finish.”
Kamara, after six shots that missed the target in the first half, saw his first shot ON goal become a shot IN goal. Not only that, it was a striker’s finish. Kamara scores plenty of goals with freakish athleticism, especially in the air, but in this instance, he received a pass from Meram in the 48th minute and had all the time in the world to pick out his spot. I had a perfect angle to see what he saw in terms of the left side of the net. It was impressive to see him then drill a low shot into the side netting. He crushed that ball exactly where he wanted it to go.
“It was a great goal,” said Crew SC Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter. “Fantastic finish. The goalie could do very little about it. And it is a good feeling. You want your striker scoring goals, that’s how strikers get confidence.”
Meram then found the net in the 80th minute. Higuain played a ball wide to Finlay, who then cut the ball back to the middle. Meram rushed through the defense to meet the cutback pass and knock it into the net with a one-time finish.
“I said last week I’ve got to be better at finishing the cut-back ball, and I’ll tell you what, I was so happy when that went in,” Meram said. “It’s a relief. I’m making the runs in there and Ethan’s doing a fantastic job to be aware to get that ball across. So, it was a great finish.”
The goal proved to be the difference in the match. With the 3-2 victory, Crew SC improved to 3-0-2 since the start of 2015 when its offensive quartet all find the scoresheet. Granted, if all four of those players are on the scoresheet, that means the Black & Gold have scored at least two goals, and that’s going to make for a good record regardless. In fact, since the start of the 2015 season, Crew SC averages 2.29 points per game when scoring two or more goals.
When the quartet gets on the scoresheet, Crew SC averages 2.20 points per game, so it’s right in line with the overall average. (Given it’s only happened five times, 2.20 is the closest possible mathematical outcome to 2.29.) So in the end, getting all four attackers on the scoresheet in the same game doesn’t mean much when compared to getting two or more goals any other way, but it nevertheless has to feel good for the team’s confidence to see all of them combining on goals like that. In fact, the combined total of seven goals and assists between the four of them is the highest total out of the five Scoresheet Quartet games.
Here are the five games in which Kamara, Finlay, Meram and Higuain have all appeared on the scoresheet in the same game. The two ties were heartbreakers that should have been wins. The Chicago game got tied on the last play of the game, while the Toronto game saw a 3-0 second half lead evaporate. This list coulda/shoulda/woulda been five victories instead of 3-0-2.
(NOTE: Stats are in X + Y format. The first number is goals and the second number is assists. All five games were at MAPFRE Stadium.)
APRIL 18, 2015
CLB 3, ORL 0
Kamara: 1 + 1
Finlay: 0 + 1
Meram: 1 + 0
Higuain: 1 + 1
TOTAL: 3 + 3 = 6
MAY 9, 2015
CLB 3, SEA 2
Kamara: 2 + 0
Finlay: 0 + 1
Meram: 0 + 1
Higuain: 1 + 0
TOTAL: 3 + 2 = 5
MAY 22, 2015
CLB 2, CHI 2
Kamara: 2 + 0
Finlay: 0 + 1
Meram: 0 + 1
Higuain: 0 + 1
TOTAL: 2 + 3 = 5
JULY 25, 2015
CLB 3, TOR 3
Kamara: 1 + 0
Finlay: 1 + 1
Meram: 0 + 1
Higuain: 0 + 1
TOTAL: 2 + 3 = 5
APRIL 16, 2016
CLB 3, NYC 2
Kamara: 1 + 0
Finlay: 1 + 1
Meram: 1 + 2
Higuain: 0 + 1
TOTAL: 3 + 4 = 7
