The Columbus Crew came to Soldier Field on Saturday night to face a Chicago Fire team that, despite being near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, had not lost a game on home turf. It looked as though the home side would keep that streak alive after Chicago midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri found the equalizer in the 88th minute to offset a Cucho Hernandez second half goal.

However, playmaker Lucas Zelarayán took matters into his own hand, from the midfield stripe, rocketed a ball past a lunging goalkeeper Spencer Richey to secure the three points for the Crew and give the team only its second road win of the season in dramatic fashion.

After the 2-1 victory, let’s take a look back at how the players performed in this match.

Starters

Patrick Schulte (7.5) – While Chicago was only able to muster two shots on goal, Schulte was solid beyond his single save. The goalkeeper’s organization of set pieces and the backline has continued to improve and he was sensible in his distribution, including some important deep clearances. Schulte’s save in the 24^th minute was a strong piece of goalkeeping, as he went solo against one of the league’s best goal scores in Kei Kamara and ended up making a terrific diving stop. He also made an excellent save in the 85^th minute of the game, stopping a rocket of a ball from forward Kacper Przybyłko off a free kick that was ruled offside.

Sean Zawadzki (7.0) – Zawadzki continued to impress on the backline. The converted midfielder had a solid game at left center back with three tackles, two interceptions and a clearance. However, he had two poor moments that almost led to disaster for the Black & Gold. The first was in the 24^th minute after a poor attempted clearance ricocheted the ball straight into the path of Kamara and almost led to a goal. The second did lead to a goal, as he failed to mark Shaqiri as he peeled back towards the open space in the center of the box for a clear opportunity at goal that he did not miss.

Steven Moreira (7.5) – Moreira continued to impress as the central player in the back three this week and his leadership centrally has paid dividends for Columbus. Moreira finished Saturday with a tackle, an interception and a clearance, but continues to do so much more as a leader of the Crew defense.

Malte Amundsen (7.0) – Amundsen was solid defensively save for a few key moments. Importantly, Amundsen narrowly avoided picking up a second yellow card after the sideline official ruled the play offside. Losing a key defensive piece when the team is already rather thin at the back would have been tough to overcome for the Black & Gold. Secondly, Amundsen also played a role in the defensive miscue that nearly led to a Fire goal in the 24^th minute. He did, however, finish the game with three tackles and led the backline in touches with 96.

Mohamed Farsi (7.0) – Columbus ran most of the team’s offense down the left side of the field, leading to a low-volume night for the right wing back. However, when Farsi did have the ball, he made it count, making two key passes that led to scoring opportunities. He also completed a number of longer passes, helping connect the backline to the attack, even if it didn’t directly lead to any goals for the Crew.

Yaw Yeboah (6.5) – After an excellent game last week, Yeboah was not as strong in this match. The left wing back led the team with five giveaways and was not potent on the offensive end, failing to record a shot or a dangerous cross the entire game. However, Yeboah made up for it by being almost perfect in possession, leading the team with a 96.7 percent passing accuracy.

Darlington Nagbe (8.0) – Nagbe had a strong performance for the Black & Gold, exemplified most by his assist in the 59^th minute. The central midfielder’s calm distribution went nicely with the work he did throughout the evening. Nagbe completed 61 of 65 passes, 11 of which were completed into the final third, the most on the team.

Aidan Morris (8.0) – Morris’s highlight of the night was his interception/assist in the 93^rd minute to earn the full three points, but his work throughout the game put Columbus in position for the moment of magic. The central midfielder’s 99 touches led the team and he also led the Crew in tackles with four. While Morris missed what looked to be a sure goal in the 53^rd minute, he more than made up for it with his relentless work both on and off the ball.

Lucas Zelarayán (8.0) – All week the entire country was talking about a No. 10 from Argentina playing in the MLS. That conversation only continued after Zelarayán’s stoppage time goal to steal all three points for the Black & Gold. Other than the goal, Zelarayán did not contribute as much as he has lately for Columbus with just three shots and several key passes.

Christian Ramirez (6.5) – A quiet night for Ramírez, evidenced by only having 35 touches, the lowest of the field players. The forward was unable to get into the game flow as the Crew neither provided dangerous crosses for him nor gave him opportunities in the penalty box. While Ramirez needs to do more work at times to create those chances, his play relies on service that simply wasn’t there most of the night.

Cucho Hernandez (8.0) – It is now straight games that Hernadez has recorded either a goal or an assist. And while this game’s goal was not his prettiest, it was certainly effective at breaking the deadlock for the Black & Gold. Hernandez was as mobile as always in this game, recording four shots (two of which were on target) and three dangerous passes. However, like last game, Herandez was caught offsides twice, which is becoming a trend as the forward pushes more for goals.

Substitutes

Alexandru Matan (6.5) – Matan came on in the 80^th minute for Columbus, and almost had his own last-second winner before his goal was called back for being offside. Otherwise, Matan didn’t make an impact in the game, finishing with only two other touches.

Jacen Russell-Rowe (N/A) – A last second, time–wasting sub, Russell-Rowe didn’t even get a touch on the ball or do enough to earn a grade.

Head coach

Wilfred Nancy (7.5) – While the Crew certainly benefited from some luck in scoring moments Saturday night, it would be unfair to say the team was lucky to win the game. The Black & Gold’s Expected Goals was 1.05 to Chicago’s 0.52 and Columbus led the game in time of possession, shots and shots on targets. Nancy has the team gelling offensively and doing enough defensively to give Schulte a chance to keep the Crew in the game. While the Blac & Gold have already announced that defensive help is on the way in the form of Ukrainian defender Yevhen Cheberko, Nancy deserves to be commended for guiding the team through injuries and keeping the team in contention for the MLS Cup playoffs.