Considering that the top two teams in Major League Soccer were matching up, Saturday’s contest between the Columbus Crew and the New England Revolution was somewhat one-sided. As the Crew won 4-0, writes Michael Arace, it “toyed with” its opponent and finally laid to rest the curse of the October 2004 playoff game that had since seen the sides head in different directions.
That was the year that the Crew had won the Eastern Conference, and it was the night they drew 1-1 with the Revs after coach Greg Andrulis started the game without leading scorer Edson Buddle, and the team missed two penalty kicks. Over both games they lost 2-1 on aggregate, and haven’t seen playoff action since. “It marked the start of the Crew’s precipitous decline and the Revolution’s ascension,” says Arace.
On Saturday “there was a statement waiting to be made. The Crew came in with a three-game winning streak and had a chance to put its cleats on the mugs of the traditional conference aggressors — and its traditional nemesis. The Revolution had a chance to deny all of this and reassert their power.” Guillermo Barros Schelotto took over the game, scoring once and assisting twice, raising his game to “the level…where it’s mad to think he — or, for that matter, anyone in the world — can be any better.”
Arace says that Schelotto embodies a “growing confidence that is now on display up and down the roster. There was such an air about them last night [Saturday], even before they finally potted a goal. It was a type of healthy arrogance that we haven’t seen in these parts since, since when?”