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After starting the season with three wins and a draw, Columbus Crew SC suffered major setbacks and hit a three-game losing skid. Since then, the team has corrected course and are now on a four-game unbeaten streak with the latest victory coming at home Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Union, 1-0.
The contest was prime for squad rotation, being a midweek game sandwiched between a visit to Seattle and a home game against Chicago. The average age of Columbus’ starters was 23.8, the youngest lineup this year. Luis Argudo, 22, a third-round draft pick out of Wake Forest, got the start in place of MLS veteran Federico Higuain. Cristian Martinez, 21, resumed his starting spot on the wing and Niko Hansen, 23, filled in for Pedro Santos, who served a red-card suspension.
“I’m just here to help the team,” Argudo said after his first start. “If they want to play me in the wing, I’ll do it. If they want to play me in the middle, I’ll do it. I just feel like I’m smart enough to know what to do when I have the ball in those different types of areas, so that’s why the coaches play me in different positions.”
Crew SC (5-3-3, 18 points) struggled to find cohesion at the start of the game, but the Union are the perfect opponent to experiment with. Philadelphia (2-5-2, 8 points) has scored only five goals all year, and none have come on the road.
It took time, but the Union defense eventually faltered in the 53rd minute. Harrison Afful sent a long cross through the box that Philly keeper Andre Blake tipped to Martinez.
Martinez tapped the ball down to a waiting Gyasi Zardes, who had the simple touch in for a goal.
“I tried to go in for the early cross and I was offside. I told myself, ‘Get back onside,’ because the ball can spill, and sure enough it did,” Zardes said. “With this VAR technology, I’ve been unlucky three times … every goal is not an easy goal. The ball was bouncing, it’s on my left foot, my primary focus was, ‘Tap it in.’
Crew SC coach Gregg Berhalter said he expected for the players in Wednesday’s lineup to take some time to warm up to each other.
“We had six new guys in the lineup,” Berhalter said. “It was a new lineup, the age of our group … was probably one of the lowest in a long time in the league. With that, you’re going to have guys feeling each other out, taking a bit to get in the game, and I think that’s what you saw tonight. I’m proud of the guys. We talked about it being a squad week, and so far we’re on track for this week.”
Columbus has a short turnaround with another home game Saturday against a big rival, the Chicago Fire. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.