The Columbus Crew suffered its fifth loss of the season Saturday night in a 3-2 home defeat to 5th-place Western Conference side Minnesota United.

A strong, energetic start and an emphatic lead shaped the first 60 minutes of the contest. Taha Habroune put the home side ahead in the 31st minute, and Hugo Picard doubled their lead in the 56th. But within 15 minutes of the Black & Gold gaining that seemingly significant advantage, Kelvin Yeboah spearheaded the visitors’ comeback. His two goals in the 59th and 66th minutes evened the score, and a fittingly cartoonish double-post-striking header from Anthony Markanich solidified the Crew’s demise. With the result, the Black & Gold find themselves in 9th place of the Eastern Conference on 12 points from 11 matches.

The opener in the 31st minute was spurred on by Habroune, approaching from the left corner of the 18-yard box. He played a give-and-go with Max Arfsten, who returned the ball to Habroune with a back-heeled through ball into space. Habroune took a touch to settle the ball before curling it with his right insole into the bottom right corner of the net, out of Drake Callender’s reach.

The visitors came close to a response in the 37th minute. Kyle Duncan receives a lobbed through ball on the right flank from Joaqin Pereyra. After bringing the ball down in his stride, Duncan fired a low shot with his right foot across the goal, but the ball rolled just wide of the left post.

The Black & Gold took charge in the second half, doubling their lead through Picard, who scored his 5th goal in his last six appearances, and his first in MLS play. Dylan Chambost played Diego Rossi through the right of the 18-yard box. Rossi hit a first-time low cross, which was swatted away by Callender’s diving save, though the ball landed at Picard’s feet at the edge of the six-yard box. Instead of shooting first-time, Picard took it left, his ensuing shot deflected by Jefferson Diaz but rebounded right back to his feet. The second time around, he made no mistake of it, firing the ball into the roof of the net with his right foot.

The Crew’s two-goal lead lasted a mere three minutes, at which point Yeboah halved the deficit for the visitors. A long throw-in from Duncan into the 18-yard box was headed into the penalty area by Diaz and Markanich, eventually falling to Yeboah, who struck the ball on the volley with his right foot past Patrick Schulte and into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Just seven minutes later, Yeboah was back for seconds with a header to level the score. Joaqin Pereyra curled a corner kick in with his left boot from the right corner flag, with Yeboah rising above the rest to direct his headed shot into the bottom right corner past Schulte’s outstretched reach.

Rossi came close from distance just moments later in the 70th minute. The Uruguayan forward fired a powerful strike from the right corner of the 18-yard box, his shot ricocheting off the left post, narrowly close to restoring the lead.

Minnesota overtook the Black & Gold in the 74th minute with a devastating third headed goal, this time from Markanich. Nectarios Triantis sent a looping high cross toward the left corner of the six-yard box, where Markanich rose over the back of Steven Moreira to drive the ball on frame. It hit the right post and drifted across the goal line behind Schulte before striking the left post and rolling into the net.

Back to Square One

The Black & Gold entered this match having won their previous three matches in all competitions. Although against two lower-end of the table MLS sides in the LA Galaxy and Philadelphia Union and USL League One side One Knoxville SC, those strong performances inspired hope amidst the dissapointment of Wessam Abou Ali’s injury trouble and a slow build to Henrik Rydström’s tenure at the helm of the Crew. The first 60 minutes of the match felt like the streak’s continuation was inevitable—fluid passing, direct play, and shots peppered on frame evidenced the team’s growing confidence. But the inability to bounce back from Minnesota’s repeated blows knocked that possibility out of contention. Notably, all three goals scored by the visitors stemmed from lobbed passes from the right side of the field, two of them headers—surely something that will be workshopped on the training ground in the coming days.

Habroune and Picard Impress

After earning increased minutes from Wilfried Nancy in 2025, the Black & Gold’s 20-year-old prodigy, Habroune, appears to have earned the trust of Rydström. If there was any doubt before, it’s clear now that U.S. youth international has what it takes as a starter in MLS. Habroune has been a standout throughout his young career, becoming the Crew’s first-ever player to progress from the academy to Columbus Crew 2 in MLS Next Pro and on to the first team in MLS. Despite the loss, Harboune delivered a strong all-around performance, scoring the Crew’s opener and completing 88% of his passes, while adding seven defensive contributions, six passes into the final third, five recoveries, and winning 60% of his ground duels. Habroune’s bright spark gave the Black & Gold a promising outlook to start the match and carried the side forward until Minnesota returned fire. Picard, who provided the Black & Gold’s second goal of the night, has been on a tear recently, scoring twice in each of the Crew’s U.S. Open Cup matches this season, becoming the team’s second-all-time goalscorer in the storied competition, with his four-goal haul trailing only Brian McBride’s five. Picard’s confidence in taking players on is evident and a thrill to watch—if his goal contributions continue, he will be a useful tool in attack as the Black & Gold look to regain their form.

What’s next?

The Black & Gold will play its next match away from home, against New York City FC on Sunday, May 10th at 4:30 p.m. ET. The match will be available to stream on Apple TV.