Looking to avenge its regular season loss in South Florida on June 19th, the Columbus Crew welcomed Inter Miami to Lower.com Field Tuesday evening for a Leagues Cup clash in the Round of 16. The Black & Gold punched its ticket to the Tuesday evening contest following a 4-0 thrashing of Sporting Kansas City on Friday evening. Meanwhile, Miami defeated Toronto FC 4-3 to earn a trip to Central Ohio. 

The visitors found the scoresheet in the 10th minute off a Crew miscue. Defender Steven Moriera attempted to get the ball out of the defensive third and beat the high press of Miami. Inter’s Diego Gómez stepped in front of the pass and intercepted it, finding Matías Rojas who headed the ball in from the top of the six-yard box and past goalkeeper Nicolas Hagen as he dove to his right giving the visitors a 1-0 advantage. 

Columbus looked to counter, uncorking five shots in the first half and putting zero on target. The Black & Gold’s best chance came in the 43rd minute as Diego Rossi found himself alone at the top of the penalty area. He received a cross from Cucho Hernandez on the right, chested it down, but skied it into the Nordecke. The Crew headed into the locker room, trailing by a 1-0 scoreline at the break. 

Both teams returned to the pitch trading opportunities. Head Coach Wilfried Nancy made three changes for the Crew, bringing on Mo Farsi, Alex Matan, and Christian Ramirez to spark the offense out of its lull. 

That change was just what the doctor ordered as the Black & Gold experienced a power surge on offense. Columbus cut the lead in half in the 67th minute as winger Max Arfsten linked up with Christian Ramirez who headed the ball in from the center of the six-yard box and sent the home fans into a frenzy and a sense of belief began to fill the terraces of Lower.com Field. 

Just two minutes later Cucho linked up with Diego Rossi for a second goal in as many minutes. The Uruguayan forward sat perched on the back post, hitting the ball one-time into the net and leveling the score at 2-2. 

Rossi wasn’t done as he captured the lead for the Black & Gold in the 80th minute. A special touch in a tight space from Farsi put the forward in prime position for a scoring opportunity and he capitalized to give the hosts a 3-2 lead and completely tipping the scale in favor of the hosts in the dying embers of the game. 

Columbus looked to put the nail in Miami’s proverbial coffin as Cucho, Rossi, and Ramirez attempted to link up for a fourth goal but Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender stood tall to keep his team in contention. 

Looking to get the draw in extra time, Luis Suarez found himself free in the penalty area but defender Rudy Camacho deployed a well-timed tackle to deny the famous Liverpool striker another memorable moment. 

Columbus maintained its advantage as Hagen denied several late opportunities to deliver the Black & Gold the 3-2 victory and punching a ticket to the quarterfinals.

A game of two halves

The Black & Gold lacked attacking menace in the first half but key second-half substitutions aided the Black & Gold in delivering a knockout blow to the defending Leagues Cup Champions.

Rockin’ Rossi

Despite playing half as many games as the rest of the field Rossi finds himself tied for the Leagues Cup Golden Boot with four goals in two games.

Up next

Columbus awaits the winner of Tigres and NYCFC. The game will be contested on Saturday, August 17th with a kickoff time that is TBD.