After suffering a 4-2 defeat in Game 2 of the best-of-three series against Atlanta United, the Columbus Crew was back home in a pivotal Game 3 of the MLS Cup playoffs. The Black & Gold bounced back in front of another sellout crowd at Lower.com Field, winning 4-2 to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinal.

Columbus wasted no time to kickstart the game, getting a ninth minute opening goal from captain Darlington Nagbe. The midfielder read a poorly executed clearance from the backline of the Five Stripes and intercepted the ball, adjusting his body shape to run away from the defender before firing home a shot from distance to give the home side a 1-0 lead.

The Crew took a 2-0 lead in the 17th minute when left center back Malte Amundsen collected a pass from midfielder Aidan Morris in the attacking third. The defender took a shot from 30 yards and found the top right corner, surprising everyone at Lower.com Field, including himself.

Atlanta came close to pulling a goal back not long after when midfielder Saba Lobjanidze found forward Giorgos Giakoumakis in the center of the penalty box with a low-driven pass. The falling shot from Giakoumakis was saved by Black & Gold goalkeeper Patrick Schulte to maintain the 2-0 lead in the 31st minute.

Three minutes later, Columbus increased the lead to 3-0. Forward Diego Rossi found fellow attacker Alexandru Matan to his right and the the Romanian was able to collect and take a touch toward goal before firing the shot into the roof of the net past United goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

No more than a minute later, the Five Stripes cut the Crew’s lead to two, when playmaker Thiago Almada found Giakoumakis right at the six-yard box. The forward did not miss this time, putting his shot past Schulte.

The Black & Gold carried the 3-1 lead into the half, hoping to put the game away in the second half. Columbus wasted no time putting its stamp on the game in the second half when Rossi scored in the 48th minute on a pass from Matan to give the Crew a 4-1 lead.

United responded quickly to this goal as midfielder Xande Silva got his name on the score sheet in the 50th minute. Silva capitalized on a pass from the right hand side to put the past Schulte, bringing the score to 4-2.

The Black & Gold had two opportunities from forward Cucho Hernandez to increase the leader further. The Colombian had a shot on target, but Guzan stood tall to keep the score 4-2. Matan came close to putting Columbus back up by three, but his header attempt went just wide of the target and out for a goal kick.

The Crew was given a golden chance in the dying moments of the match, when midfielder Tristan Muyumba fouled Hernandez just on the outside of the penalty box. The ensuing free kick hit the corner of the crossbar and stayed out.

Columbus held out the final five minutes of second half stoppage time to win 4-2 and book a date in the Eastern Conference semifinal.

Columbus improved home playoff record

Coming into the Game 3 matchup, the Crew was 18-7-2 at home in the postseason. With the win against the Five Stripes, the Black & Gold improve on that record. Lower.com Field became a fortress for Columbus during the regular season and has continued to be such in the MLS Cup playoffs.

Matan shines

A year ago, Matan was loaned out under former coach Caleb Porter. Current head coach Wilfried Nancy has found a home for Matan in his team and the midfielder has delivered with recorded one goal and 11 assists in MLS play. He recorded his first MLS postseason goal and assist in the win.

What’s next

Columbus will travel to Orlando City SC for the Eastern Conference semifinal on Saturday, Nov. 25 Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. from Exploria Stadium and will be broadcast on MLS SeasonPass on AppleTV+.