Crew SC v Minnesota United
Decision Day in Major League Soccer!
The Columbus Crew were in a tight race to clinch the final place in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Crew entered Sunday’s match vs Minnesota United, 2 points ahead of the Montreal Impact. The implications couldn’t have been any simpler; win and you’re in! While the Crew faced off vs Minnesota the Impact were in action vs the New England Revolution.
Zack Steffen walks out for warm ups
Weather in Ohio is unpredictable, and Mother Nature didn’t care that there was a soccer game to be played. The game was able to kick off on time, however it didn’t last long. In the 9th minute the referee called a halt to play after seeing a lighting bolt to the north of the stadium. While the rest of the MLS was playing their final games, the Columbus Crew and Minnesota United sat waiting.
The game was able to get restarted right around 6:00PM. The Crew wasted no time solidifying their playoff position by winning a corner right off the restart. The Crew were able to get a cross swung into the box that found the head of their striker Gyasi Zardes. Scoring the first goal of the night in the 11th minute. Gyasi was not done for the night.
The Crew continued to dominate possession throughout the first half. They had several other opportunities to grab a second goal, but couldn't connect. The game went into halftime with the Crew leading 1-0.
The Crew found out the Montreal Impact had lost 1-0 at the hands of the New England Revolution. This meant the Crew earned the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, regardless of the result vs Minnesota.!
Even though the playoff spot was already secured, there was still a second half to be played. The Crew again wasted no time in the second half by coming out with their foot on the gas pedal.
The Crew won a free kick just outside Minnesota’s penalty area. The Columbus ace, Federico Higuain, stepped up to take the free kick. Higuain was able to get his shot on the Minnesota goalkeeper Matt Lampson. However, Lampson couldn’t corral the shot and gave up a rebound that fell onto the foot of Gyasi Zardes who tucked home his second goal of the night in the 49th minute.
However, as most soccer people will tell you; “2-0 is the worst lead you can have in soccer." This came to fruition for the Crew, as they squandered their lead to Minnesota’s captain Francisco Calvo in the 68th and 77th minutes.
As the Crew have dropped points in previous games by conceding late goals, the last thing the Crew wanted was to go into the playoffs after a game that got away from them.
The Columbus Crew finished the 2018 regular season with a 14-11-9 record, finishing fifth and will play a knockout game at fourth place D.C. United next week.
Below is my entire gallery of the game vs Minnesota. I hope you all enjoy!
Quickly after conceding the second goal, the Columbus Crew tried to recollect themselves with 12 minutes left of the game. In the second half, Minnesota played with a more pressing style which left a lot of space behind their outside backs. This gave Columbus Crew’s Niko Hansen a chance to exploit the space in the wide areas. The Crew finally took advantage of the space in the 83rd minute when Niko Hansen made a diagonal run into the space, crossing the ball, and found Gyasi Zardes for the finish.
Gyasi Zardes got his third goal of the night, completing his hat trick. Zardes finished the regular season with 16 goals in his first season in the Black and Gold.
