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Heading into the season opener, Crew fans were left with an off season filled with such pressing questions as:

-Will Guillermo Barros Schelotto be re-signed?

-Will the new starting forward make up for the loss of Alejandra Moreno to the Philadelphia Union, and actually score goals for Columbus?

And of course,

-Will there be agreement between the players and MLS?

The kick-off of the Crew’s MLS season answered two of those questions, with GBS and the two teams on the pitch. The question of who the new forward and hopeful goal scorer was not.

In the off season, the Crew brought in striker Sergio Herrera who has some impressive career numbers, and last year acquired forward Emilio Renteria. Jason Garey has also seen playing time last season for the crew. The opening day starter, however was Forward Steven Lenhart, who filled in some games last year when GBS was injured.

The Crew played sloppy at times, with some lazy passes that TFC intercepted and almost scored on, but still managed a 2-0 shut out victory over rivals TfC. Columbus didn't play their best soccer, yet was still able to dominate the majority of the game. This can be taken in one of two ways, 1. Once the crew gets into mid-season form they could be a tough side to beat, and should challenge for a possible third consecutive Supporters Shield, which would be an MLS record.

Or.

2. Toronto is just that bad.

I think there is a fair bit of both involved. First games of the season aren't necessarily a great preview for the year (remember, last year the crew struggled to find a win at the beginning of the season, starting 0-2-3). However, The Crew looked strong against Mexican side Toluca in Concacaf play, which will be a tougher opponent than any MLS team they will face this year. While Toronto won't be the best team in MLS, they wanted their first ever win vs. Columbus in front of some of their own supporters from Toronto who made the trip down to attended the game. You have to believe they were playing just a little bit harder to get the W.

As far as the match goes, Andy Iro headed in a free kick from GBS in the 29th minute, and GBS netted himself a goal in the second half off an interesting play. Crew Defender Danny O'Rourke charged in after a ball, and TFC keeper Stefan Frei raced out of his goal to get to it first. O'Rourke slid into the ball and into Frei as the ball ricocheted to Schelotto. From there it was an open goal  for GBS, who secured the game for the Crew.

From replays of the incident, it looks as if O'Rourke was dangerously close to getting a foul called against him, as his foot continued in. Interestingly, Frei had been running off his line into some dangerous situations throughout the game. To me, this seemed as if he didn't have much confidence in his defense.  He took one risk too many, and the last one resulted in the securing of a victory for the good guys.

A few notes-

-The 2-0 result could have, in fact, should have been more like 3 or even 4-0. Midfielder Adam Moffat had nothing but the goalie in front of him on a beautiful breakaway....and then either took the worst shot of his career or just passed it to Frei, as if Moffat no longer wanted to have possession any longer. 

-Many Crew faithful are hoping for Midfielder Robbie Rogers to have a great 2010 after a disappointing season last year.  He played well for the most part, but still seems to still struggle finishing. He had a great opportunity to score and took an underwhelming shot. We all know what Rogers is capable of, however and I have a feeling he will have a good season. After getting some national team call up time, hopefully he transfers some of that to his MLS game.

-It was nice seeing Crew captain Frankie Hejduk play like the Frankie Columbus has come to love. After a pretty awful playoff game  against Real Salt Lake last season, a few fans were worried that Frankie's age was starting to show. While not playing a perfect game, he seemed much improved from the last time we saw him in an MLS game.

-GBS was GBS, and reminded the front office as to why exactly it was crucial to resign him. Even with his aging, he can take over a game. One goal, One assist and a near goal while chasing down a pass back to Frei from a TFC defender left everyone in Crew Stadium holding their breath.

-Forward Steven Lenhart spent a lot of time on the ground in this game. He plays physically with good size and tends to frustrate those around him. He also tries to draw a lot of fouls, and to his credit did get a few called. He had some antics on the field, such as after being whistled for offsides, he grabbed the ball and motioned to pass it to Frei. Lenhart then faked him out and dropped the ball and then jogged back to position. This received a great applause from the Nordecke (the supporter section at Crew Stadium).

What concerns me is if he does too much of this, he will get a reputation around the league that may actually hurt him getting some calls in the future. Also, as some (such as Jeff Carlisle from Espn.com)  are considering him a potential breakout player, the last thing Crew fans want to see is an ill-timed red card from a scuffle on the pitch.  I’ll admit,  Lenhart is a lot of fun to watch, as he usually gives great effort and just looks like he enjoys playing the game. Let's just hope he nets a few goals this year.

-My man of the match was Danny O'Rourke. Danny played one of his best games with the Crew, as he helped shut down his side, provided support in possession and his effort chasing down the ball against Frei lead to the insurance goal. Seeing Danny improve over the past two season should make any Crew Fan proud of the hometown guy.

-The attendance according to MLSnet.com was 13,536. For a team that has won two Supporters Shields and one MLS Cup the past two years, playing against one of their rivals,  to only bring 13,536 fans on opening day is depressing. That doesn’t even include the number of fans TFC had brought. Nordecke was a sea of Black and Gold, but this team is too good not to draw a bigger crowd. The Crew deserves better.

Up next:

The crew will travel to Dallas to square off against Former Crew Forward Jeff Cunningham and FC Dallas on April 10th at 8:30 p.m. FC Dallas Tied their last game against Houston.

Tags: columbus crew, mls, toronto fc