COLUMBUS -- Olman Vargas sprinted to the northeast corner of Crew Stadium then turned his back to the cheering Nordecke supporters’ section and pointed to the name on the back of his yellow jersey.
When asked after the 2-0 win against the Montreal Impact in the Crew’s home opener on Saturday why he celebrated his initial MLS goal that way, the Costa Rican forward said, “The first one, so people get to know me.”
If Vargas continues scoring like the header he put past Donovan Ricketts in the 66th minute, he won’t have to worry about being recognized.
“That was something,” Crew coach Robert Warzycha. “You can see the elevation of his jump and the way he headed it. [Donovan] Ricketts is a great goalie. He saved a couple before. That was a perfect shot.”
The Crew’s other high-profile offseason acquisition, Chilean midfielder Milovan Mirosevic, scored on a penalty kick in the 30th minute to help the Crew eradicate the memory of a 2-0 loss at Colorado on March 10 to start the season.
A welcome bye week helped Warzycha decide to switch from a 4-5-1 formation used in Colorado to a 4-4-2 featuring Emilio Renteria partnered up with Vargas from the start.
“The two weeks since the Colorado game helped us,” Warzycha said. “We got our feet a little bit. We worked on some things. You saw today. I was happy.”
Mirosevic moved deeper into the midfield on Saturday after playing behind Renteria against the Rapids. But from his perspective, Mirosevic believes the Crew attack is still a work in progress.
“If we change it, I would like to play a little higher but I feel comfortable today,” he said. “The team made it comfortable. The two forwards did a great job running every ball.”
The Crew was more active and creative compared to their First Kick outing, but Montreal was also playing short-handed after Impact right back Jeb Brovsky was shown a red card in the 19th minute.
That matters little to the Crew, who will be pleased to see their two new acquisitions open their scoring accounts, especially in the case of Olman, who some believed may have had a harder time adjusting to a new league.
“It helps the team a lot,” Mirosevic said. “Everybody felt like he’s playing a lot more relaxed than two weeks ago. For [Vargas] and for us, it’s great he scored.”
