COLUMBUS, OH – For the first time in three years, head coach Caleb Porter led the Columbus Crew against his former team, the Portland Timbers. With Columbus itching to clinch a postseason berth as the 2022 MLS season nears its conclusion, Columbus will need to a huge result against a Timbers side that is the most yellow-carded team in the league this year.
The Crew were just minutes into the game before having a good chance come their way. Forward Cucho Hernandez awas able to get around a defender and attempt a chip against Timber’s keeper Aljas Ivacic, but the attempt was sent just over the crossbar in the third minute.
Portland were able to secure a free kick in the sixth minute when Sebastian Blanco was fouled just to the left of the penalty area. The ensuing free kick however, saw nothing dangerous happen.
Just at the other end, Cucho was able to earn the Crew a free kick, but the shot by Lucas Zelarayan was an easy grab for Ivacic.
Hot Boi
After a long back-and-forth battle, the home side were able to break the deadlock when Zelarayan slid a through ball to Kevin Molino who scored comfortably.
THAT MAN MOLINO GIVES US THE LEAD ?#VamosColumbus | 1-0 pic.twitter.com/fRbGeGPcfK
— El Crew (@ColumbusCrew) September 18, 2022
Columbus carried the momentum and the lead into the half, as the Black & Gold aimed to hold on for another 45 minutes in a must-win game.
Chippy second half
A tight contested second half, it was the Timbers who seemed to have come out stronger.
Head Coach Giovanni Savarese had the visiting side pressing harder and more often, forcing Columbus to make mistakes in their own defensive half.
With emotions running high, some chippiness betwen the two sides were definitely coming to light.
Columbus thought they had a little breathing room when winger Derrick Etienne Jr scored what may have been the goal to make it 2-0 for Columbus, but was ruled offside by the slightest of margins.
Eloy Room played hero maker, when he managed three saves in a span of five minutes, to keep the 1-0 lead for Columbus.
It happened again
Referee Victor Rivas added four minutes of stoppage time to the second half. In this case, Columbus needed to hold on for that much longer to secure the win. But the curse of conceding late goals came knocking on the Crew’s door yet again.
In the fifth minute of stoppage time, a loose ball in the box fell to Santiago Moreno who rocketed home a right footed shot past goalkeeper Eloy Room to earn a point at the waning seconds of the match.
With the draw, Columbus now have three games to figure out what it is that needs to be done in order to clinch the playoffs.
Head Coach Caleb Porter said afterwards that the game was comfy and didn’t need to change much. “I didn’t feel like I needed to change much other than like for like. I wanted to keep Lucas and Cucho on because they’re helping us get up the field. I didn’t want to go into the five becuase I didn’t think we needed the five.”
“This is another game where everyone’s gonna blame my subs. That’s fine. It’s my fault, I take responsibility. I’m the head coach. I have to do better with the subs.”
What’s next?
Columbus Crew are back at home against the New York Red Bulls in the last home match of the season on October 1.
