Two late goals, including a winner from newcomer Jack McInerney, gave Columbus Crew SC a 3-2 comeback win over visiting Sporting Kansas City in a wild match at MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday night.
A stunning Graham Zusi strike in the 62nd minute put Crew SC on its heels, but a late spark from the home-side resulted in goals from McInerney and Tony Tchani to give the Gregg Berhalter's team a huge win over Supporters' Shield contendors Kansas City.
The visitors opened scoring in the 14th minute thanks to Marcel de Jong’s first MLS goal.
Dom Dwyer headed a ball into the path of Saad Abdul-Salaam, who had a clear path to the touchline and slid a ball across the Crew SC defense, giving de Jong a wide open goal for an easy finish.
But Crew SC would pull level before the half thanks to a wild series of events beginning in the 34th minute.
On a counter-attack started by Tchani, newly acquired fullback Harrison Afful made a darting run down the right side and pulled back a cross for Federico Higuain, who smashed a shot off the crossbar.
Kei Kamara skied to collect the rebound, turned and rocketed a pass across goal, finding the chest of Ethan Finlay, who calmly directed the ball into the open net.
The goal marked the 10th this season that has come from Kamara and Finlay assisting one another, easily the most in the League.
To begin the second half, Columbus seemed in control. They knocked on the door with dangerous, meaningful possession for several minutes, creating a plethora of opportunities.
But Sporting only needed one opportunity to break the momentum, and it came in the 62nd minute.
A Crew SC corner kick careened out to Wil Trapp, who couldn’t handle the bounce and gave the ball away to Matt Besler. With no one behind Trapp, Besler pinged a long ball wide to Zusi, who cut into the Crew SC box and curled a beautiful finish past the outstretched arm of Steve Clark to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.
But the Black & Gold had a comeback in them.
Columbus would finally equalize after knocking on the door for most of the second half on a rare successful set piece.
Higuain’s free kick in the 80th minute glanced off the head of Tyson Wahl and directly to Tchani, who calmly finished to bring the match to 2-2. With the equalizer, Crew SC seemed to sense their opportunity.
Moments later, it was Higuain again creating the crucial chance, volleying a ball in the Kansas City box that Tim Melia saved. But McInerney was there for the rebound, tapping his debut Crew SC goal into the back of the net to win the match for Columbus.
The win gave Columbus four points from a two-game home stand this week after a draw against New York City FC Wednesday. Meanwhile, Sporting Kansas City dropped all six points this week, losing to San Jose and in Columbus.
Crew SC visits New York City next Saturday (4 pm ET; MLS LIVE), while Sporting travel to Colorado (9 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
