Columbus Crew earn a rare point on the road in Texas, gear up for stretch run

Photo by Steve Hamm/Special Contributor, Dallasnews.com

The Columbus Crew earned a point on the road Saturday night with a 1-1 draw against FC Dallas. Columbus was the harder working team last night, they played more aggressively and had opportunities to score the go-ahead goal. Cucho Hernández hit a shot off the post and had a couple near misses just wide. On the night, Columbus had 13 shots compared to 8 for Dallas.

Columbus had 5 shots on target, including a shot by forward Diego Rossi was deflected into the home net by Dallas defender Nkosi Tafari for an own goal in the 24^th minute.

Dallas had two shots on target for the game. The first was saved by Patrick Schulte, but forward Jáder Obrian put a shot past the goalkeeper in the 43^rd minute to even the match at 1-1 and there was no more scoring.

With the point, the Crew remains even with the Philadelphia Union and New England Revolution who also had draws in their respective games. Philadelphia drew with LAFC at home 0-0 and New England tied the Chicago Fire 2-2 at Soldier Field. All three teams have 49 points and have clinched a spot in the playoffs.

Atlanta United was the big mover last night in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta gained three points with a 4-1 win over CF Montréal and now have 49 points to join the fun. Philadelphia and New England have played 29 matches and have a game in hand on Columbus while Atlanta has played 31, one more game than the Crew. Orlando City is in second place with 50 points through 29 games.

FC Cincinnati has a commanding lead in the Eastern Conference and is the presumptive Supporter’s Shield winner for the best regular season record. Orlando, Columbus, Philadelphia, New England, and Atlanta will be fighting for positions 2-4 in the standings to earn home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Crew’s remaining schedule is a gauntlet. Columbus hosts Philadelphia next Saturday, September 30^th at Lower.com Field where the Crew is 11-1-4 for the season. The Crew then travel to New England for a mid-week match on Wednesday, October 4^th before closing out the week in Atlanta with a match on October 7^th. The Crew’s season finale is a home contest versus CF Montréal.