CINCINNATI — Hell is Real belonged to Columbus on Sunday night. The Crew won 2-0 at FC Cincinnati and now sit one point behind their rivals for the East’s final playoff spot.
The opener came in the 22nd minute. Brais Méndez swung a corner to the back post, where Gonzalo Tapia rose unmarked and headed it in. Taha Habroune doubled the lead in the 54th minute with a first-touch finish off a feed from Tapia, his third goal in three games, according to the Associated Press.
Patrick Schulte made eight saves for his sixth shutout of the season, the AP reported. Columbus improved to 10-15-5 with 35 points, one behind ninth-place Cincinnati (9-11-9), with four games left. The Crew have won four of their last five and are unbeaten in five straight against Cincinnati, leading the regular-season rivalry 9-3-6.
“This can be used as momentum, but I think it can also show that we can win in any way,” Schulte said, according to MLSSoccer.com. He pointed to the noise inside TQL Stadium after Cincinnati supporters unveiled a large pre-match tifo. “For our fans to be heard in a stadium like this is awesome. It’s pretty cool to play in something like this, and it’s even better to walk away with three points.”
The win capped a season sweep of Cincinnati in a year of upheaval for Columbus. Interim head coach Laurent Courtois replaced Henrik Rydström after 16 games, striker Wessam Abou Ali was lost to a season-ending ACL injury in April, and Diego Rossi and Max Arfsten were transferred abroad before two new Designated Players, Méndez and Santiago Rodríguez, arrived in the summer.
Columbus now turns to Wednesday night’s U.S. Open Cup final at home against St. Louis CITY SC. “We are going to recover and then try to go for the title, of course,” Courtois said. “And the games after that are gonna be also kind of finals for us, and that’s the mindset from now.”
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