Columbus Crew picked up their 15th win of the season at Gillette Stadium with a 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution, handing the opponent their first home defeat in 2023.
Both sides already punched their tickets to the 2023 MLS Cup playoffs, but the win inspired the Crew (fourth place, 53 points) to leapfrog over the Revs (fifth place, 52 points) in the Eastern Conference standings.
It was a difficult game on both ends, with either side destined to walk away from the contest with a point — until Malte Amundsen scored his third goal of the campaign to win it for the Crew in the 86th minute.
Since Columbus’ chaotic exit in the Leagues Cup to Minnesota United, they’ve experienced an incredible run of form, losing just twice — to impressive sides such as Orlando City and Houston Dynamo — in nine games played since the August 4 defeat.
The Crew have found the back of the net 19 times while conceding 11 goals during those nine games to propel themselves up the Eastern Conference table.
In that span, the Crew have racked up five wins, including a 3-0 triumph over FC Cincinnati while drawing against FC Dallas and Philadelphia Union. Simply put, the Crew are built to score goals with the likes of Cucho Hernandez, Diego Rossi and Christian Ramirez leading the charge.
“I really liked the game because yes, we won, and this is the first loss for New England at home – I’m proud of that for the players — but also the way we played,” Columbus head coach Wilfried Nancy said after the win. “We played our game on a difficult pitch, and we were disciplined.
“We were disciplined defensively knowing that New England, the way they play, they like to move a lot, and they like to change position, make rotations and so on. I felt my team was disciplined when we didn’t have to ball. We were in control,” he said.
Should Nancy’s side win their final two games of the regular season, they would lock-up a top four finish in the East. But to do that, they’ll have to take down Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on October 7 before battling it out with CF Montreal on Decision Day, October 21, at Lower.com Field.
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