Forget about attractive, attacking soccer. The Philadelphia Union and Columbus Crew SC’s first half was a grinding 0-0 affair that neither team should be proud of but both could be somewhat happy with.
In the fifth minute, John McCarthy made a fantastic save on an Ola Kamara shot on the half-volley to keep the sides scoreless.
There were long stretches of boring soccer, with both teams seemingly disinterested in things like possession and creativity and more interested in passing to no one in particular and fouling their opponents.
Jay Simpson didn’t get many touches, and unfortunately the former Leyton Orient man tried to do far too much on his own.