Two of the top teams in MLS’ Eastern Conference are squaring off Saturday night at RFK Stadium. D.C. United is hosting Columbus Crew SC and the stakes are high, as a win for either team could mean clinching a berth in the playoffs.
If the Black-and-Red get the “W” in front of their home crowd, they’re in. On the other hand, Columbus earning three points on the road could mean a postseason spot, but Orlando City must lose or tie against the Chicago Fire on Saturday as well for the Black & Gold to clinch.
With a few “ifs” still in the picture and three different teams claiming the top spot in the East within six days, Crew SC Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter says the playoffs aren’t the focus this weekend.
“We’re not there yet,” Berhalter says. “We haven’t clinched anything yet, and our focus is on D.C.; and that’s it right now.”
Motivation for the postseason isn’t necessary for the Black & Gold to recognize the they’re facing another tough opponent.
“I don’t think you need to add anything to this team. You talk about D.C., they’ve been at the top of the East all year, now they’ve dropped to third, but they’re right there, tighter on points,” Berhalter says. “We don’t need any extra motivation. We see this as a strong opponent and it’s going to be a good game.”
Instead, he says the emphasis is on breaking down United’s tough defense. They’ve conceded 35 goals this year, which is in the top half MLS for fewest allowed.
“D.C. has a very good defense,” Berhalter says. “For us, it’s going to be about patience and changing the tempo of our attacks. It can’t all be one tempo. They’ll adjust to that and we need to vary that.”
The Red-and-Black usually play a 4-4-2, creating space out wide, and incorporating their outside midfielders on both sides of the ball. Columbus’ game plan against the compact Philadelphia Union squad last Saturday was to switch the field. This is still important, but Berhalter says they’re also focusing on a few other key components this weekend.
“They have a good defense and they have good veterans that know how to adjust to what’s given in the game,” Berhalter says. “For us, it’s going to be about our spacing, our ball movement, how quickly we can do that. Hopefully we get some chances and then it’s about putting those chances away.”
Kei Kamara has proven he’s more than capable of putting chances away, scoring his sixth brace of the season last match in five minutes. With that, he became just the second player in club history to reach the 20 goal mark and the first player to do so in MLS this season. Kamara says he plans on carrying that momentum into RFK Stadium like he would any other match.
"Stay focused as usual. I just leave everything up to my teammates because they’re going to produce for me and I just have to stay focused, stay in the box and stay calm,” Kamara says. “If I get the chance to score the goals, I love to score the goals—I enjoy scoring the goals.”
Clearing finding the back of the net is his thing, but he says a reason he loves scoring is because it draws attention to him, creating chancing for his teammates.
“I said earlier in the season, we have a lot of of guys on the team that can score goals,” Kamara says, “and this is the key point in the season when those guys are going to score big goals for us.”
This is the second time Crew SC and D.C. will face off this season, but it’s been since May 2 since the two clubs have met. United took the first match 2-0 at home, but the Black & Gold have since seen success on the road. They’ve won four of the last five away from home, with three straight.
Kamara says playing their game, staying focused, continuing their winning ways on the road and knowing what they need to do are all key to earning three points in D.C.
“Just play our game, but it’ll be great for us to go into their house and get points from them,” Kamara says. “It wasn’t the case earlier in the season when we played there, so it’ll definitely be good if we can go over there and get maximum points.”
The Crew SC striker says, “everyone’s been doing a little extra to add into the team’s flare and it’s been helping.”
That extra effort is nothing new to this team, but with only five matches remaining in the regular season, it’s been advantageous for Columbus.
“You can’t finish the season short of the playoffs. You play for championships, and the position that we’re in at the moment, we see ourselves competing in the playoffs,” Kamara says. “And not just that, but we want to get into the playoffs in a good position, which is hopefully getting first place in the East and nothing less than that. Everybody’s pushing each other at training and there’s motivation in the locker room, knowing that these games coming up against D.C. United, are really, really big games.”
Kickoff between D.C. United and Crew SC is set for 7 p.m. ET Saturday. Catch the action on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel, CD 102.5 FM or La Mega 103.7. Or, if you're tuning in internationally, you can find the match here: M. East & N. Africa, Abu Dhabi Sports / Europe (exl UK & Eire), Eurosport / Dohar, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, BeIN Sports (ASIA AUS) / UK, SNTV.
