Tyler Fisher & Ralph Schudel

The Columbus Crew fell to the Seattle Sounders by the score of 4-0 last night. While that score looks impressive from the visitor’s perspective, Crew supporters will point out a questionable referee’s decision in added time of the first half.

Seattle played a ball long to forward Jordan Morris who gave chase. New Crew goalkeeper Abraham Romero came out to challenge but collided with Morris and teammate Sean Zawadzki. It was a difficult play for all parties involved but it appeared Zawadzki’s boot clipped the ball and moved it away from the trio. However, Romero and Morris collided, with Zawadzki getting looped into the mess.

Following a lengthy injury timeout a red card was shown to Romero, forcing the Black & Gold into two difficult situations.

Playing down a man and suiting up a field player in goal.

Due to international call-ups and injuries, the Black & Gold had just Abraham Romero on the roster as a goalkeeper. This was due to Crew 2 goalkeepers Stas Lapkes and Cole Johnson exhausting their MLS call-ups, including a friendly against Aston Villa. Columbus applied for a hardship waiver but according to various reports, were denied the accommodation.

With all that in mind, Columbus fell to Seattle and head coach Wilfred Nancy shared his thoughts with the media postgame. The Crew boss didn’t take questions but spoke for just over seven minutes about the circumstances surrounding the contest.