There’s nothing like kicking off your MLS season with a win. Especially when the game wasn’t that pretty and one of your goal-scorer was getting pushed around the entire game. That pretty much sums up the first match of Columbus Crew’s 2013 MLS season last night against Chivas USA in Los Angeles. But hey, there’s nothing like an angry striker to spark a 3-0 win for your team, and I will definitely take it.
In all honesty, I’ve been pumped about the Crew starting their season for weeks now. Following them along during their preseason in Florida has been great. Not only have the veterans shown they are still tried and true, but all the new guys have started to work into the fold really well. This has been something that’s troubled me with this team for a while – a lot of new faces and no real meshing. We’ve had several players leave during the past couple of years; players that have been great, but ones the front office apparently didn’t get along with.
Federico Higuain was exactly what the Crew needed last night to jump start their 3-0 win over Chivas USA. Photo courtesy of Crew’s official Facebook page.
I’m not here to point fingers, but it seems that things have finally settled for this team and starting to click. And all I can say as a fan is, that it is about damn time. The Crew had an excellent preseason in my opinion and now I’m just crossing my fingers that it translates over into the season. Last night proved that it is, although it’s not going to exactly be easy.
Chivas USA are looking to prove themselves too and nothing is more dangerous than a team with something to prove. The Crew may have won 3-0, but Chivas didn’t hand it to us. Juan Agudelo proved several times that he’s still a force to be reckoned with and if it weren’t for Chivas’ keeper Dan Kennedy, the rout might have been even deeper than three goals.
But what I enjoyed most about this match is the fact that, though he was pretty beat up during this match, Federico Higuain didn’t let that stop him from pushing back and sparking what would be a great win for the Crew. I said last season that there were sparks from this guy and if the team had a whole season to see how he and Jairo Arrieta would hook up on the pitch, we would see great things. This game gives further proof it’s going to be a great partnership.
I think defender Josh Williams – who notched the second Crew goal of the night – summed up Higuain’s performance last night perfectly to MLSsoccer.com
“He was getting beat up. They were bullying him around. It kind of lit a fire in him on that shot he had. I though there were a couple of cheat shots in there. They were beating him up but he kept getting up. That says a lot for him.”
Damn right it does. And I hope it says a lot about what’s to come this season too.
Stay with the ladies of Aerys Soccer during MLS’ 2013 season and follow us on Twitter at @AerysSoccer!
