Not all went wrong in Crew SC's loss to Houston in Week One. In fact, aside from Giles Barnes' lone tally for the Dynamo, almost everything went right for Gregg Berhalter's side.
The Black & Gold controlled 60 percent of the possession, out-shot the Dynamo 18-8 and passed with 80 percent accuracy. That gives Crew SC plenty to build on ahead of Saturday's home clash versus Toronto FC.
"We’re putting that game past us and moving on," Berhalter said Tuesday. "We learned a lot from it, specifically about things we can do better. We’re focused on the next opponent.
"The vibe is good... We want to build on last week’s performance, improve on last week’s performance and open up the season in front of our home fans."
Added forward Kei Kamara: "We’re taking all the positives of our game: connecting, going forward, defending well, no mistakes and really, just to be ready. It’s the first game at home for us. We’re looking for three points, nothing less."
So what went wrong in Houston? An outstanding performance from Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric not only shut-out the Black & Gold, but prevented what could've been four sure-fire goals to keep Columbus from getting a road result.
"A lot of credit to the goalkeeper, Deric, he did pretty well stopping us," Kamara said frankly. "He had a big day, we just have to let that go. It was great, in the final third, to see what we could put together as a team."
Winger Justin Meram had to watch the match on TV in Columbus while serving a red-card suspension. Eligible for selection on Saturday, Meram hopes to impact the attack versus Toronto.
"A little bit of luck would’ve helped [versus the Dynamo]," said Meram. "We had some chances that just didn’t find the back of the net. I think the service could’ve been a little better throughout the whole team, and just choosing our moments to be extremely dangerous."
Crew SC kicks-off versus the Reds on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET at MAPFRE Stadium.
