Columbus Crew defeated Sporting Kansas City and qualified to round of 16 against Inter Miami on a warm Friday night at Lower.com Field in Leagues Cup competition. Forward Diego Rossi’s brace along with recently acquired and second half substitutes DeJuan Jones and Dylan Chambost scored for a 4-0 final score.

The game began slow but tension built throughout the first half. Following 13 minutes of ball possession and no team going too deep into the rival’s field, Rossi’s shot inside the box went high after a good play by left midfielder Max Arfsten cutting in from the left and building up with right back Mo Farsi.

Three minutes later, Sporting Kansas City seemed to have scored as striker Alan Pulido’s played a beautiful ball in between lines for Erik Thommy who was found to be in an offside position.

From the 30^th minute on to the end of the first half, the Black & Gold found their best moment and a late goal to take the 1-0 lead.

Forward Christian Ramirez crossed the ball in the 29^th minute from the right side of the field but Rossi couldn’t control it and the rebound was deflected by Kansas City’s defense. Just a minute later, forward Cucho Hernandez, with an individual play, found a shot on target from outside the box, but Kansas City’s goalkeeper John Pulskamp deflected the ball to the corner kick.

The visitors couldn’t outplay the Crew’s pressure and defender Malte Amundsen recovered the ball in a dangerous area. After building up from that recovery, Hernandez’ shot in the 32^nd minute was blocked by a defender and went to the corner kick. It was Hernandez again that beat his defender in the box and his header almost took the lead. However, a miracle happened in Sporting’s box and the defense cleared the ball off the line to keep the game scoreless.

Columbus’ first goal arrived in the 45^th minute when Hernandez broke Kansas City’s defensive line with a leading pass to Rossi that the Uruguayan forward slotted past the keeper into the far post with his left foot.

The hosts’ second half seemed like a training session, as Sporting didn’t create any goal chances and the Crew held the ball for almost all the time.

Following a long ball possession, defender Steven Moreira came out with an unusual move  in the 51^st minute and his long-distance shot went above the crossbar. Rossi extended the lead in the 55^th minute when a Sporting defender couldn’t control a throw-on ball properly. Rossi capitalized on the errant deflection and improvised a half-volley shot from outside the box that just got past Pulskamp dive and into the net.

By this time, the Crew was smashing the visitors and were looking for more. Hernandez had two consecutive long-distance shots in the 59^th minute and almost found his own goal, but Pulskamp managed to parry away both shots. Arfsten, with an individual play in the 74^th minute, tried to find the 3-0 lead, but Pulskamp came up again with a save for the visitors to kept the score at 2-0. A minute later, Rossi shot from a long distance was deflected by Sporting’s best player, Pulskamp to another corner kick.

Coming from that corner, substitutes forward Jacen Russell-Rowe finds an open Jones for his first goal on just his third touch in black and gold. Not to be outdone, Chambost caught Pulskamp’s rebound from Alexandru Matan’s shot in the 76^th minute to score his first official goal in Crew colors and complete the 4-0 scoreline.

It was a delightful performance for the MLS champions, who will now face Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami Tueday at Lower.com Field.