The Columbus Crew have quickly brushed aside the heartbreak of their midweek U.S. Open Cup final penalty shootout loss and taken another massive leap toward MLS Playoff contention. Laurent Courtois’ men put in a statement performance Saturday afternoon, beating Eastern Conference rivals Toronto FC 4-2 at home.
The Crew dominated the first half, putting two past their Canadian visitors and adding two more in the second half, but Sekou Bangoura’s red card in the 70th minute brought the match to a shaky close. Malte Amundsen scored twice, Dylan Chambost became the sixth player in Crew history to provide three assists in a single match, Gonzalo Tapia added his third goal contribution across two matches, and Patrick Schulte recorded five saves.
The Black & Gold escape with a deserved win unscathed, earn their fifth win in their last six MLS matches, and re-enter the playoff race as they move into 9th place in the Eastern Conference with three regular season matches remaining; a remarkable turnaround after dwelling near the bottom of the table for much of the season.
Schulte was forced into action early, diving in the 3rd minute to save a powerful strike from outside the box by Djordje Mihailovic.
The away side tested him again a minute later. Lewis Morgan struck a half-volley from the left side of the 18-yard box, but Schulte caught it.
Tapia opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Santiago Rodriguez floated in a lobbed pass from the middle of the pitch, 30 yards out, that wedged between several defenders and dropped into Mohamed Farsi’s path on the right side of the 18-yard box. Farsi let the ball fall before swiping a first-time pass across the box to Tapia, who tapped it into an empty net after Luka Gavran left his goalposts unattended in an effort to catch Farsi.
Tapia got close in the 20th minute, latching onto a misdirected deflection from Matheus Pereira. His right-footed strike from the edge of the six-yard box was aimed near Gavran’s chest and blocked by the goalkeeper.
Five minutes after Tapia’s opener, Amundsen headed home the Crew’s second. From the right, Chambost curled an inswinging left-footed corner kick into the penalty area. Amundsen, scurrying around the box, lost his defender and knocked the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.
Early into the second half, Amundsen and Chambost combined again to put the Black & Gold three goals ahead. Chambost took his corner short and played a give-and-go to Rodriguez. After regaining possession, Chambost curled the ball into the six-yard box; Amundsen timed his run well, bursting into space and poking it past Gavran with his left foot.
In the 53rd minute, Theodor Corbeanu attempted a long-range left-footed strike from the right flank, but Schulte comfortably scuppered the chance.
Three minutes after coming on as a substitute, Brooks Lennon put the Black & Gold four goals up in the 60th minute. Taha Habroune drove forward and, with a defender on his tail, slid the ball left toward Tapia. Richie Laryea slid in to intercept, but the ball knocked off his leg toward goal and forced Gavran to save, pushing it back into open space. Chambost picked up the loose ball, and, instead of taking the shot himself, passed it left to Lennon, who fired it into the back of the net.
In search of a fifth, Anass Zaroury struck the ball from distance in the 63rd minute. His right-footed shot from 30 yards out tested Gavran, forcing the goalkeeper to dive and push the ball away from the bottom-left corner of the net.
Toronto finally broke through in the 70th minute. Daniel Salloi headed in a cross from Corbeanu on the right flank, knocking the ball into the bottom left corner.
The Black & Gold went down to ten men in the 71st minute, as Bangoura was sent off for a second yellow card. Bangoura slid in with a tackle on Corbeanu near the edge of the 18-yard box, taking down the attacker without making contact with the ball.
From the ensuing free kick, Schulte saved a close-range header from Josh Sargent. Pereira tapped the rebound into the back of the net for what looked to be a goal for the visitors, but upon closer review it was deemed Pereira’s shot deflected off of his hand before making its way past the goal line.
In the 81st minute, Sargent scored Toronto’s second, making it 4-2. Receiving the ball near the right edge of the 18-yard box, Sargent struck a low, right-footed shot into the bottom left corner past Schulte.
Up next, the Black & Gold face off against FC Dallas on Wednesday, October 28th at 8:30 p.m. ET at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, TX. The match will stream on Apple TV.
