What We Learned: Crew vs FC Dallas

Columbus Crew SC remained unbeaten in the Caleb Porter era, defeating FC Dallas by a 1-0 scoreline on Saturday afternoon. Gaston Sauro remained in the race for the MLS Golden Boot with his second goal of the season at the 10-minute mark with the assist coming from Pedro Santos. Columbus had a scare in the 90th minute in the win, when Dallas wailed for a penalty kick but none was given.

This match tested two unbeaten teams to the best of their ability. The Black & Gold, however, prevailed.

So what did we learn from the match today?

Sauro soars

If you were to say Gaston Sauro and Golden Boot in the same sentence before the start of the 2019 season, someone would have likely laughed in your face. But, now it’s not that crazy. After fear that the defender might never play again, he has returned with a bang to start this season.

Here we are, two years removed from the injury and the Argentine defender has two goals to his name and has helped the Crew two shutouts in three games to start year.

the goal scoring something neutrals are shocked to see, considering that most defenders don’t score at this rate. But it’s something Columbus Crew fans are love. Will the center back continue dominance, or will the hot streak come to a halt? Only time will tell

Porter has a different vision than Berhalter

As one would recall, former Black & Gold head coach Gregg Berhalter rarely changed up his starting lineup unless injuries occurred or players were called up to their respective national teams. But just three games into the 2019 MLS season, new Columbus head coach Caleb Porter made one significant change to his starting lineup, replacing winger Justin Meram with Robinho. Porter said that it was done as more of tactical change and that Robinho deserved the start.

These changes were something that rarely done by Berhalter. It’s clear that Porter has a similar playing style as Berhalter but his vision is different, where he played his wingers more advanced into their attacking third. Clearly he felt it was time for a change despite being only three games into the year.

Columbus controls

Porter was impressed with the possession rate his team had in the win over Dallas. He mentioned that he was comfortable with the amount that Columbus had the ball in the game, but was also comfortable with Dallas having as much possession as they did.

The Crew was able to control the game, working the right touchline more and more to advance the ball up-field. Dallas did have more possession, however, but the Black & Gold did their part, having the best passing accuracy in their attacking half.

You can definitely see the minor difference in the playing style after just three games.