Goals from Gyasi Zardes and Federico Higuain were enough for Columbus Crew SC, as the home side held off a 10-man Colorado Rapids 2 to 1 on a very fall-like night at MAPFRE Stadium.
Columbus dominated for most of the first half and created several chances, yet couldn’t get the ball past ex-USMNT ‘keeper Tim Howard in the Colorado goal until the 20th minute. A slightly surprised looking Zardes found himself wide open in front of the goal and stroked the ball home while looking to believe himself offside. After a slight delay, the goal was given and Crew SC were up 1 to 0.
Colorado equalized shortly after with a quickly taken free-kick that caught the entire Crew SC side by surprise. The ball glided into the far side of the goal, away from Zack Steffen who was still trying to sort out his defense. Crew protested, but referee Allen Chapman remained firm and allowed the goal to stand.
Colorado were reduced to 10 men early in the second half, when Deklan Wynne was given a straight red for a fairly innocuous-looking challenge on the floor-prone Pedro Santos, who crumbled under what was adjudged to
be a dangerous knee to the back. The game-changing incident allowed Columbus to control the vast majority of the remaining half with their usual possession-based approach.
Shortly after the send off, Crew SC got the game-winning goal from midfielder Higuain, after some driving work from Milton Valenzuela to clear the way to the Colorado goal.
Columbus are back in action at the same time next week, this time against play-off rivals, Philadelphia Union.
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 at Matt Ellis Photography.
