*NOTE: The following editorial was written by MLSsoccer.com and edited by ColumbusCrewSC.com
Gyasi Zardes scored his 42nd-career goal with Columbus Crew SC (9-3-4, 31 pts.) to tie Edson Buddle for fifth on the Club's all-time scoring list, but in the end, a first-half rebound and a second-half penalty kick conversion from the Montreal Impact (6-8-2, 20 pts.) delivered the Black & Gold their first home loss of 2020 via a 2-1 scoreline.
Zardes's tally marked his 10th of the year as he remains in second place in the MLS Golden Boot race. Notably, Zardes has scored in four of Columbus's seven matches at MAPFRE Stadium this season.
First, however, it was Montreal's Lassi Lappalainen opening the scoring as he followed up on not one, but two rebounds before placing it over a diving Andrew Tarbellin the 24th minute, as Tarbell earned the start after Eloy Room suffered an injury in Saturday's 2-2 draw at FC Dallas.
Following Zardes's equalizer in the 44th minute, Montreal's Bojan was taken down in the box and after the play was sent to Video Review, a penalty was officially given.
The Catalan stepped to the spot and beat Tarbell with a low shot towards the right goalpost to earn the game-winning goal in the 74th minute.
With 31 points, the Crew now stands behind Philadelphia (31 pts.) and Toronto (34 pts.) in the MLS Supporters' Shield race.
Up next, Columbus travels to Orlando City SC on Sunday, Oct. 11 for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
MATCH NOTES
By Crew SC Communications
- Forward Gyasi Zardes scored his 10th regular-season goal of the 2020 MLS season in the 45th minute of tonight’s home match against the Montreal Impact. With the goal, the forward is now tied with Edson Buddle for fifth place in the Crew SC all-time scoring rankings. Zardes is now behind only Jeff Cunningham (64 goals), Brian McBride (62 goals), Federico Higuain (55 goals) and Stern John (44 goals). The forward’s goal tonight was his 42nd career regular-season goal in Black & Gold and 76th in MLS regular-season action. Zardes has scored at least 10 goals in each of the last three MLS regular seasons after doing so just once in his first five MLS regular-season campaigns, per Opta.
- Midfielder Aidan Morris made his first MLS and Crew SC regular-season start in tonight’s home match against the Montreal Impact. Morris, who signed with the Crew as a Homegrown Player in January of this year, has made five total regular-season appearances (including tonight’s start) this year. In tonight’s match, the rookie midfielder notably successfully c32 of his 34 attempted passes. Additionally, Morris made three tackles and two interceptions on the night.
- Up next for Crew SC, the team travels to face Orlando City SC on Sunday, October 11 [7:30 p.m. ET / SportsTime Ohio, FOX Sports GO App / 97.1 The Fan & 971TheFan.com (English), ColumbusCrewSC.com (Spanish)].
