CHESTER – Seven days ago in Columbus, with a chance to play for a trophy on the line, the Crew showed how much better they are at their best than the Philadelphia Union.
Having won the Leagues Cup three days earlier, their reserves were playing a draw on Wednesday. Wilfried Nancy’s team neutralised Union for an hour and then brought out the big guns on the bench.
Yaw Yeboah scored a beautiful goal in the 75th minute to prevent Union from taking any points in a must-win home game (1-0) at Subaru Park.
The Union (6-11-9, 27 points) failed to win one of just four remaining home games on a day when even a tie would have been a disappointment. They sit 10th in the East, one point outside the playoffs, and are trying to maintain their streak of six consecutive playoff seasons.
But five of their remaining eight games are away, and seven are against playoff teams. They begin a streak of three straight away games at the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, followed by a three-game week after the September international break that includes trips to Inter Miami and New York City FC.
The Crew (13-4-7, 46 points) had started to turn the game in their favor after about an hour, with six of the first seven shots on goal before they brought on Diego Rossi and Yeboah as part of a triple substitution in the 63rd minute and Cucho Hernandez and Darlington Nagbe 10 minutes later.
Almost everyone touched the ball when they had a chance to score. Hernandez forced the action and sent his substitute Max Arfsten to the byline. Arfsten crossed in front of the goal and Yeboah headed the ball from the edge of the 5.5-meter area just inside the left post.
Hernandez spared Union the chance to score in the 86th minute when he started a counterattack together with Rossi and his shot from the right side went wide.
The Union, which featured strong players such as Jack McGlynn and Mikael Uhre on a small bench, managed just two shots on goal. Tai Baribo’s header from an angle was blocked in the 54th minute and McGlynn’s shot from 30 yards deflected and almost caught goalkeeper Patrick Schulte off guard, who fired the ball over the bar in the 77th minute.
The first half was nothing special, played with the energy of two teams squeezing a rescheduled game into midweek after both were busy with the Leagues Cup last Saturday. The Crew made 10 changes from the squad that won the Leagues Cup against Los Angeles FC on Sunday, with only Sean Zawadzski keeping his place.
Although the Union was more desperate to see the result, it did not exactly step on the gas.
Columbus had both shots on goal in the first half, while Union tied the score with two shots that hit the post. Baribo was the first to score. He was honored as the Leagues Cup Golden Boot winner before the game and nearly scored his 14th goal in as many appearances when he made a run to the near post and fed a ball from Quinn Sullivan that beat Schulte but bounced off the post.
Sullivan hit the crossbar in the 38th minute; his rising shot from 7.4 meters went past Schulte but did not hit the goal.
Andre Blake had a difficult low shot from Aziel Jackson with his hand in the 23rd minute and tipped it wide of the post. Jacen Russell-Rowe’s shot from the edge of the box in the 42nd minute was easily intercepted and saved with the glove.
Baribo had the first shot on goal in the 54th minute, Olivier Mbaizo’s second ball after a blocked free kick landed at the far post. But Schulte came out, narrowed the angle and blocked the header with his body.
NOTES >> Former Union homegrown Derrick Jones, who called Columbus his sixth employer, received a yellow card in the third minute. … Danley Jean Jacques made his first appearance for Union. He played 72 minutes in a flat 4-4-2 and generally provided calm in the midfield. … Union’s thin defense got even thinner in the 20th minute when Nathan Harriel left the field after an unfortunate fall with a tight back. He was replaced by Mbaizo, the right back who doubles as the de facto third center back.