Columbus Crew SC is back at MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday evening to host D.C. United in its 19th regular-season contest and 10th at home. Here is everything you need to know leading up to the first of two regular season meetings between the Black & Gold and United.
LAST THREE REGULAR-SEASON MEETINGS
05/02/2015 CLB 0 at DCU 2 L: RFK Stadium
09/19/2015 CLB 2 at DCU 1 W: RFK Stadium
10/25/2015 CLB 5 vs. DCU 0 W: MAPFRE Stadium
BLACK & GOLD EIGHT-MATCH HOME REGULAR-SEASON UNBEATEN STREAK THEIR LONGEST SINCE 2012
Following a 1-1 draw against Toronto FC in the second leg of the 2016 Trillium Cup rivalry series on Wednesday evening, Columbus is currently on an active eight-match unbeaten streak at home. The streak dates back to April 16 of this year when Columbus defeated New York City FC at MAPFRE Stadium. The eight-contest streak is the longest such run by the Black & Gold since 2012, when Crew SC went on a 12-match unbeaten run at MAPFRE Stadium that began on July 21, 2012 and extended into the 2013 season, ending through April 27 of that year. This is the eighth time in Black & Gold history that the team has gone on a home regular-season unbeaten streak of at least eight games. The club record is 22 matches, a streak that began on June 28, 2008 through September 26, 2009.
CLARK NEARING 300 SAVES; PARKHURST NEARING 200 APPEARANCES
Against Toronto FC, Crew SC goalkeeper Steve Clark registered two saves, bringing his career total to 290. That places him just 10 shy of becoming the third goalkeeper in Columbus history to reach the 300 plateau (Hesmer, 412 and Busch, 367). Additionally, Captain and defender Michael Parkhurst made his 199th MLS regular-season appearance in the match. Parkhurst is now one away from becoming the 117th person in MLS history to reach the 200 appearances milestone.
KAMARA REMAINS MOST EFFICIENT GOAL-SCORER IN MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER 2016, BLACK & GOLD HISTORY
Crew SC forward Ola Kamara has scored eight goals in 789 minutes played for the club, giving him a goals/90 minutes rate of 0.91. That figure leads MLS among all 374 players with at least 200 minutes played. Kamara also leads Stern John (0.89 goals/90 minutes) for the highest efficiency in club history.
KAMARA IS LEAGUE'S LEADING GOAL-SCORER SINCE HIS FIRST TALLY
Black & Gold forward Ola Kamara scored his eighth goal last Saturday against New England. His first Major League Soccer regular-season goal came as part of a hat trick on May 28, 2016 against Real Salt Lake. Since that date, Kamara has registered eight goals, a total that leads Major League Soccer. The Norwegian is currently two ahead of Philadelphia's Roland Alberg in that regard.
CREW SC LEADS MLS IN POSSESSION, IS TOP TWO IN MLS IN PASSING ACCURACY, SUCCESSFUL PASSES PER GAME
According to the League’s official statistician, Opta, Columbus Crew SC leads MLS in possession (55.88%) as well as ranks second in MLS in chances created per match, overall passing accuracy and successful passes per match. Columbus is one of just two MLS teams passing above an 80% accuracy rate as well as one of two clubs completing over 385 passes per game.
SAEID AMONG MLS PASSING ACCURACY LEADERS
Among players with at least 100 passes attempted, Crew SC midfielder Mohammed Saeid ranks second in all of MLS in passing accuracy (91.39%). Meanwhile, Homegrown Player Wil Trapp ranks second in the League in successful passes, with 1115.
WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Saturday's 7:30 p.m. ET start is available via regional television on The CW Columbus, Time Warner Cable SportsChannel and BCSN2. Neil Sika (play-by-play), Dwight Burgess (analyst) and Marisa Contipelli (sideline) are set to have the call of the match on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel and BCSN2, “Crew SC Matchday,” the exclusive pre-match show, starts at 7:00 p.m. ET with Contipelli and Chris Doran, and “Crew SC Post-Match” immediately follows the action only on TWCSC and BCSN2. The CW Columbus' broadcast begins at 7:30 p.m. ET. Locally, the contest is available via the radio in English on CD102.5 FM and in Spanish on La Mega 103.1 FM. The English radio broadcast also is set to stream live on ColumbusCrewSC.com. A complete list of places to catch the Black & Gold on TV is available here and to find places to watch the match, check out our list of Crew SC bars. Internationally, the match can be viewed via the following: Globosat, Abu Dhabi Sports, BeIn Sports Australia, FOX Africa, Eurosport.
