Columbus Crew SC’s mini mid-season slump continued with a surprising 2-1 defeat at the hands of Montreal Impact during a midweek match at MAPFRE Stadium.
Montreal started the game strong and almost scored within the first minutes as a sleepy-looking Crew SC — missing several key players — gave away the ball just outside the box, but Amar Sejdic’s shot came back off the post to deny the Impact.
Lassi Lappalainen opened the scoring for the Impact in the 24th minute after following up on a rebounded strike that also looked to hit Harrison Afful’s hand and was likely to result in a penalty. Advantage was given and a goal awarded.
Gyasi Zardes levelled the game just before half-time after a deflected cross bounced off the Crew SC forwards face and ended up in the back of the net.
A delayed penalty awarded via VAR was converted by Bojan in the 74th minute and with the lead and a potential win the visitors set up camp in their own half and sat back, allowing Crew SC to have the majority of possession. Possession they were unable to turn into goals as time ran out to give Columbus their first home defeat of the season.
Next up for Columbus: an away trip to Orlando City SC on Sunday, October 11.
For more information, visit columbuscrewsc.com.
Matt Ellis is a freelance photographer who covers bands that visit the city and the Columbus Crew MLS team. More about Matt can be found on his Instagram.
All photos by Matt Ellis
