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11/07 18:00 CST Gonzalo Tapia, Brais Mndez help Crew avoid MLS Cup wild-card
match with 4-3 victory over Fire
Gonzalo Tapia, Brais Mndez help Crew avoid MLS Cup wild-card match with 4-3
victory over Fire
CHICAGO (AP) --- Gonzalo Tapia netted a pair of goals and Brais Mndez scored
the winner in stoppage time to help the Columbus Crew pull out a 4-3 Decision
Day victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
Columbus (14-15-5) trailed three times before rallying to avoid the Eastern
Conference wild-card match. The Crew jumped from ninth place to seventh after
FC Cincinnati lost 2-0 to Nashville SC. Columbus will play No. 2 seed Inter
Miami in the best-of-three first round.
Despite the loss, Chicago (16-11-7) finished fourth in the East and earned the
home-field advantage in a first-round matchup with Charlotte FC.
Robert Lewandowski gave Chicago a 1-0 lead in the 8th minute on a penalty kick.
The 38-year-old's eighth goal through his first 19 MLS appearances came after a
foul on Columbus midfielder Sekou Bangoura.
The Crew tied it in the 16th minute when Tapia used assists from Taha Habroune
and Santiago Rodrguez to score his fifth goal through his first 11 league
matches. Habroune's assist was his career-high fifth, and Rodrguez notched his
eighth in 12 appearances this season.
Lewandowski scored on another penalty kick in the 22nd minute to put the Fire
back in front after another foul on Bangoura.
Anass Zaroury tied it 2-2 a minute later with an unassisted goal --- his third
in his first eight matches, all starts.
Chicago took a 3-2 lead into halftime when Maren Haile-Selassie scored
unassisted in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Haile-Selassie posted career
highs of 13 goals and 10 assists this season.
Tapia scored again in the 62nd minute to tie it 3-all. Habroune collected
another assist and defender Malte Amundsen picked one up, giving him three in
each of the last four seasons.
Mndez finished his first regular season with six goals and four assists in 14
appearances with 10 starts.
Patrick Schulte stopped three shots for the Crew, who close out the regular
season on a 6-0-1 unbeaten streak.
Chris Brady totaled two saves for Fire, who entered play 2-0-1 in their
previous three matches.
The two clubs played to a scoreless draw in Ohio to begin March.
Up next Columbus: Hits the road to begin the series with Inter Miami. Chicago: Hosts No.. 5 seed Charlotte in first-round opener. ___ See AP's full MLS coverage here |
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