Cucho Hernandez scores early, Columbus Crew draw Colorado Rapids
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Other than Cucho Hernandez continuing his goal-scoring prowess, not much will be remembered from the Crew’s performance on Saturday in the Denver suburbs.
Hernandez scored his sixth goal in seven games since joining the Crew in the fifth minute in a 1-1 draw against former striker Gyasi Zardes and the Colorado Rapids.
The start was exactly what coach Caleb Porter was hoping for on the road knowing every point in the final 11 games this season would matter for the Crew’s chances of making the playoffs and hosting a home playoff game.
Crew left back Pedro Santos kept his head up as he sprinted toward the end line on the left side. He saw Hernandez sprint toward the far post and put the ball there for Hernandez to tap home past goalkeeper William Yarbrough.
But after the opening 20 minutes, the Crew (8-6-10, 34 points) were defending for large stretches of the game and struggled to create scoring chances.
The Rapids (8-9-7, 31 points) scored in the 41st minute on a penalty kick from Diego Rubio. Right back Steven Moreira was called for a handball in the box after winger Jonathan Lewis headed the ball toward goal. Crew goalkeeper Eloy Room dove the correct way on the penalty kick, but the shot rolled beneath his outstretched hand.
The Crew had six shots in the first 16 minutes. They registered just one shot until the 72nd minute and ended with 14 shots, five shots on target.
"First 20 minutes I thought we were excellent. We played exactly how we wanted to play. ... Then I felt like we hit a bit of a wall for some reason," Porter said. "Kind of the last 20 minutes of the first half, we took our foot off the pedal."
Following a 3-2 win against New York City FC last weekend, the Crew were as confident as they’ve been all season. Lucas Zelarayan, Luis Diaz and Hernandez exhibited excellent chemistry during a fluid performance for an inconsistent Crew attack, before a game against a team that had allowed seven goals in the past two games.
From the opening whistle, the Crew controlled possession and pinned the Rapids back. Diaz, Zelarayan and Hernandez were constantly around the Rapids penalty area. Only getting one goal, however, gave Colorado an opening.
Zardes appeared to have found the back of the net in the 23rd minute after his initial shot against Room was saved. But Zardes was just ahead of center back Jonathan Mensah on the cross he initially shot and was ruled offside.
The second half played out much like the end of the first half, with the Crew not connecting passes to move up the field in the attack. Colorado prevented Crew midfielders Artur and Darlington Nagbe from being involved much in the build-up.
The Crew’s best chance in the second half came when Zelarayan delivered a long, diagonal pass to Derrick Etienne Jr.
Yarbrough came out of his net as Etienne controlled the ball deep down the left side of the box. Etienne tried to create an angle to get a shot away with an open net as Colorado defenders started to collapse to the goal line. Etienne’s eventual shot was deflected out of play and didn’t reach the goal.
Santos had an opportunity at the top of the box in the 95th minute, but it rolled wide, left of the net.
Porter said he was more pleased with the second half effort, but there needed to be more quality when the Crew got close to goal. He said when he took out Diaz and Etienne in the 71st and 80th minute to get fresh players on the field, the Crew were hoping to get a threat of getting behind the Colorado defense from Erik Hurtado but largely didn't have players off the bench with the ability to do that.
"That chance at the end — that's the action I wanted to see a bit more," Porter said. "Again, I have to do a better job in training of just making sure we drive some clear patterns of play and that quality in the final third."
The Crew have still only lost two of 12 road games this year and earned their 16th point on the road. The offense displayed in a huge response victory last week, however, was far from replicated against the Rapids.
The Crew remained in fifth place in the East with 10 games remaining after Saturday's games.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Cucho Hernandez scores in Columbus Crew's 1-1 draw at Colorado
