Day 9 at Columbus, Ohio
Columbus 0, Dallas 0
On a night when fireworks were going off on the horizon at the end of the match, they never found their way to the field in Columbus, as neither the Crew nor the Dallas Burn were able to put a ball into the net in a 0-0 draw in front of 14,412 at Crew Stadium.
The Burn nearly did their hosts a favor early in the match, when a misplaced header back to Burn goalkeeper Jeff Cassar nearly trickled into the far side of the net, being stopped at the last minute by a retreating Cassar. In the 10th minute, the Burn had a dangerous free kick into the box by Brad Davis that Tom Presthus had trouble controlling, but was eventually able to gain control (See picture #1 below). Dallas had another good chance four minutes later when Ryan Suarez had a good look from 30 yards out, but his shot was just wide left.
Starting about the 21st minute, the Crew had a few good chances on loose balls inside the Dallas box. First, Duncan Oughton's shot was stopped by Cassar, then three minutes later, after a Brian McBride run up the left side, and a pass being deflected to Diego Walsh, his shot was only kept out of the net by a block by Burn defender Shavar Thomas.
In the 34th minute, the Crew were threatening again, and McBride almost put in a spectacular goal on a bicycle kick that was deflected by a Burn defender (See picture #2 below), and then on the rebound, Brian Dunseth's attempt to chip Cassar from 25 yards out was only kept out by Cassar retreating at the last minute to barely tip the ball over the bar. In the 38th minute, McBride was once again in a good position when he was able to turn on the ball only 10 yards out from goal, but once again his shot was blocked by the Burn defense. The half would end with both teams still scoreless.
Early in the second half, the Crew had another golden opportunity when Walsh was able to volley a shot towards the right post that missed wide by barely a yard. For much of the rest of the half, both teams were having trouble putting any shots on net, and the goalkeepers only had to make easy saves until both teams starting picking up the pace a bit towards the end of regulation. In the 77th minute, second-half Crew substitute Freddy Garcia's fresh legs nearly led to a Crew goal as he made a long run down the left side and was able to slot a pass to the top of the box to McBride, but the Crew striker was unable to control the pass and ended up putting a weak shot over the bar.
In the 81st minute, the Burn nearly had a goal given to them after a miscommunication between Presthus and a Crew defender resulted in the ball going right to the feet of Philip Salyer, who nearly broke in alone but a retreating Crew defender was able to prevent him from getting a shot on goal.
The Burn nearly stole the match in second-half stoppage time, when a Jason Kreis free kick from 25 yards out deflected off the wall and was spinning towards the upper left corner, and a stumbling Presthus, who had been thrown off balance by the deflection, was barely able to get a few fingers on the ball to deflect it wide before tumbling back into his own net.
In extra time, the closest either team came was in the final minute when on a Crew corner kick by Garcia, Brian Maisonneuve headed a shot just barely wide left from six yards out, but in the end, neither team was able to put the ball in net, each team would have to be happy with the single point in a 0-0 draw.
