Toluca 3, Columbus 2: Close But Not Quite There
The Columbus Crew were so close to advancing to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League, but in the end they came up short against Toluca who had an inspired performance by Zinha. Toluca had the better of play throughout but Columbus played well getting two away goals.
Toluca could have taken the lead in the 3rd minute when a shot hit the crossbar. They would hit the crossbar again in the half but could not take the lead against an organized Columbus team. However, in the last couple of minutes, Columbus put forth some good attacking moves and were rewarded with a penalty that Scheletto converted.
The second half started horribly for Columbus as they conceded a penalty within the first minute. Hector Mancilla converted the penalty. However, it got worse as Zinha scored a free kick in the 56th minute that put Columbus in a bad spot. However, they responded when Steven Lenhart got to the end of a Danny O’Rourke cross that hit the post and bounced to Scheletto who finished in the 69th minute.
Unfortunately, Toluca responded immediately as Zinha hit a free kick from the same spot as his earlier goal and caught Will Hesmer cheating as he beat him to the goalkeeper side. Columbus tried to push forward but in the 79th minute Steven Lenhart was ejected for an foul I was unable to see. After that, Columbus struggled to generate much of an attack.
Columbus will be sad to be so close. However, over the two legs, I was impressed by their performance. Their midfield was composed on the ball and their forwards converted their chances which seems to answer their worries about replacing Alejandro Moreno. Emilio Renteria looked good again as a sub and I think Columbus will be the class of MLS again this season and they certainly appear to be the deepest squad I’ve seen.
For MLS as a league, this was another disappointing performance in the tournament. They again only had one team make it to the quarterfinals who were then dispatched by a Mexican side. The tournament exposed that MLS teams do not have the depth to compete well in two tournaments at the same time as they struggle dealing with the MLS regular season and group stages of the Champions League.
When entering the quarterfinals, the teams are almost surely going to meet a Mexican team and it is clear that they are not an even match for these teams. The MLS teams have maybe 5 or 6 players who can compete with the Mexicans, but the rest of the squad are overmatched and any injuries to the squad widen the talent gap.
With a strike possible within the next week, there are bigger worries for American soccer fans than how MLS competes with Mexican teams, but I think their poor performance in these continental performances have to be addressed by the league in order to gain some credibility in the region.
