Picture Credits: Columbus Crew Twitter
If you had Lucas Zelerayan will score a brace on your bingo card, you can check that off. Lucas Zelerayan has been a menace all season, but with the Crew's playoff hopes on the line recently, he has shown up and earned every bit of his around $8 million price tag the Crew paid for him back in 2019. But there is still much more work to be done, including most of it relying on other teams. Here is the breakdown of the game, and the path for the Crew to make the playoffs.
Match Recap
Columbus and D.C United were only separated by 3 points heading into their matchup Saturday Night in the nations capital. Columbus would not start the game well, as Paul Arriola was able to put the ball past Crew goalkeeper Eloy Room in the third minute of the game. The story of the season has been Crew mistakes in the defense which the opposition have capitalized off of. And that was the case for D.C's goal.
Momentum would soon shift towards the visitors as Columbus would soon be on the front foot, and not let up much throughout the match. Right before the half, Lucas Zelerayan would get the first of his two goals from the spot as he drew a foul from Tony Alfaro in the box. Columbus would strike again in the 66' minute through Pedro Santos, and would hold on to the lead for good. The third goal came via an absolute stunner from Lucas Zelerayan, who was a good 25-30 yards out. Columbus would get the much needed win, and will look to win on decision day next weekend.
Picture Credits: Columbus Crew Twitter
Playoff Picture
Even with the win against D.C last night, Columbus is still a long shot to make the playoffs. Columbus will need a lot of things to go there way, and they still ahem to win Sunday against the Chicago Fire. Columbus needs Atlanta to beat the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday when they face off at Red Bull Arena. If that happens, Saturday is huge.
Columbus must beat the Chicago Fire. If that happens, then Columbus needs Nashville to beat the Red Bulls, Toronto to beat D.C United and Orlando to tie or beat Montreal, but only if Montreal beats Houston mid-week. If Montreal ties or loses to Houston mid-week, then Columbus needs Nashville to beat the Red Bulls, and Toronto to beat or tie D.C United.
Next Match
The next match for the Crew will be the last match of the regular season when they welcome the Chicago Fire to Lower.com Field Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.