The Columbus Crew hosted the Seattle Sounders in a forgettable 4-0 defeat on Saturday evening. A good portion of the the first half was evenly matched and things looked to go either way. However, a controversial red card to goalkeeper Abraham Romero in the 38th minute dismantled everything for the Black & Gold.

Columbus Crew began with quality one-touch connections in the fifth minute when forward Diego Rossi and midfielder Aziel Jackson shared the ball in the midfield. The play ended with midfielder Dylan Chambost’s crossed ball from the left side resulting in the first corner kick of the game.

By the 10th minute, Wilfried Nancy’s team slowly started to apply high pressure to the Sounders defense, which allowed the Black & Gold to quickly recover possession of the ball.

Seattle knocked on the door in the 13th minute when Morris dribbled past defender Sean Zawadski and crossed the ball to the penalty area, where midfielder Pedro de la Vega was ready to shoot, but defender Yevhen Cheberko intercepted the pass.

During the first 20 minutes, AZ was a key player for the Crew to open up scoring opportunities. The midfielder’s quick movements and connection with Rossi was creating spaces for Chambost, defender Andres Herrera and midfielder Max Arfsten.

In the 25th minute, Jackson’s half volley with his left foot from outside the box went high, but provided a glimpse into what the attacker can do and gave the Black & Gold hope going forward.

Seattle’s first serious approach to goalkeeper Abraham Romero’s goal occured in the 31st minute when Rusnak dribbled Zawadski and sent the ball into the box, where Morris beat Cheberko’s position, but missed an open shot attempt.

Romero’s collected his first save of the game in the 38th minute when midfielder Paul Rothrock found space for his long-distance shot.

Before halftime, a long ball to Morris broke Crew’s defense and Romero was obliged to foul Sounders’ striker, which resulted in a red card to the keeper for being the last man.

Incredibly, Nancy did not have another goalkeeper on the bench, despite filing for a hardship waiver from Major League Soccer that would allow Columbus to bring in a Crew 2 keeper. With no keepers available the Black & Gold turned to utility man Sean Zawadski between the posts.

Seattle scored from the ensuing free kick, as Zawadski couldn’t block Rusnak’s shot to the far right post.

Following 10 minutes of passive possession of the ball for the Crew, Seattle took advantage of the extra man and Morris scored the second goal of the night.

Sounders hit with the third goal just a few minutes later, when midfielder Josh Atencio shot from long distance in the 66th minute and Zawadski couldn’t deflect it.

Rusnak completed his hat trick for the fourth goal of the night in the 70th minute.

Zawadski mishit a pass to midfielder Darlington Nagbe almost gifting Seattle their fifth goal of the night, but Atencio’s shot went above the crossbar in the 74th minute.

Nothing interesting happened from that moment of the game, as the Crew tried to stop the bleeding and Seattle slowed down the pace. The match ended with the Sounders taking home the 4-0 and claiming all three points.

Let’s move on

MLS and league pundits will say “look at what Seattle did to Columbus” and likely won’t tell the full story of what occurred Saturday night in Central Ohio. Although the Black & Gold are likely out of the Supporter Shield race, the Crew will likely punch a ticket into the playoffs with a victory against FC Cincinnati next weekend on the road at TQL Stadium.

What can’t he do?!

We need to take a moment and appreciate the versatility of Sean Zawadzki.

Up next

The Columbus Crew visit FC Cincinnati next Saturday at 7:30 pm looking for revenge and to claim another chapter in the Hell is Real Derby.