Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - FC Dallas and the Columbus Crew enter their
match Saturday at Crew Stadium in desperate need of a win.
Both clubs are winless in their last five Major League Soccer matches, with FC
Dallas winless since mid-April and Columbus winless since late March.
Dallas (3-5-3) is already 11 points off the pace in the Western Conference and
Columbus (2-4-2) is 13 points off the top in the Eastern Conference.
Although there is a lot of season ahead, both clubs could use a win to end the
early-season winless streaks.
Columbus has its only wins this season over the expansion Montreal Impact and
winless Toronto FC, but has scored just three goals since in three defeats and
two draws.
The Crew have secured positive results in two of their last three games, a 2-2
tie against the Houston Dynamo in mid-April and a 0-0 tie against the Portland
Timbers last weekend.
"I'm been very happy with the last three games, to be honest with you," Crew
coach Robert Warzycha said. "We were unlucky last week (against Vancouver in a
1-0 loss), but overall, we're playing pretty good, pretty solid and steady
games. We're making progress."
The Crew are just 1-2-1 at home this season, and have been hit by injury early
this season. Eleven players are on the injury report for the Dallas match.
"It's frustrating, the amount of injuries we have," goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum
said, "but at the same time it's out of our hands. We have the guys who can
play and we have the depth at that position especially."
The Crew follow the game against Dallas with games at the San Jose Earthquakes
and Seattle Sounders FC, so coach Warzycha knows how important it is to get a
result this weekend.
"We have a game against Dallas at home, and then go straight to San Jose and
Seattle, so some tough games in front of us, but after a game like (Portland)
it's something to build on," he said. "especially having so many injuries."
Dallas has just two goals during its slide, and has lost its last two matches
against the Colorado Rapids and Seattle without scoring a goal.
With an 0-3-1 record on the road, and injury problems as well, Dallas needs to
recover from Wednesday's loss to Seattle in time to push the Crew.
"I thought we had probably 70 minutes of our best soccer of the year, getting
the ball, moving the ball and I don't want to emphasize the players we were
missing," Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said. "I thought the players we had on
the field today were very good."
Dallas defender Zach Loyd believed the team just needed to focus on the future
and that starts with Columbus.
"Our backs are against the wall right now and we haven't won a game in several
weeks. I think the biggest thing we can do is to come together as a team and
continue to believe in one another," Loyd said.
The Sports Network