Columbus Crew lose second straight game, fall 2-1 to Inter Miami | Replay

For the second week in a row, the same story played out for the Crew. The final score was different, but the end result wasn't.

Inter Miami had lost its last six matches and hadn't scored a goal on the road heading into Saturday's game at Lower.com Field, but the visitors struck first and rode a brace from Leonardo Campana to a 2-1 win over the Crew. Striker Cucho Hernandez scored his first goal of the season in his first MLS start since March 11 after missing six games with a knee injury, but even with Hernandez on the field, the Crew couldn't find a way through Inter Miami's low block in the second half.

The Crew have now lost two games in a row and have scored just two goals in their last three games.

"I did not like the game," Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said. "I did not like it. I have the feeling that we could have played a long time and to score, it would have been the same. This is my feeling."

Campana scored his first goal just seven minutes into the game as Inter Miami opened the Crew up in transition. Midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi flicked a header to Campana as he cut between Crew center backs Miloš Degenek and Gustavo Vallecilla, and Campana finished the chance through goalkeeper Patrick Schulte's legs.

Hernandez's goal came just three minutes later, as midfielder Lucas Zelarayán intercepted an attempted clearance by Miami center back Kamal Miller and quickly spotted Hernandez in space in the corner of the 18-yard box. Hernandez opened his body toward the goal and took one touch with his right foot before firing a strike into the far corner of the net.

The Crew had control of the game for over 30 minutes after Hernandez's goal but couldn't convert on the handful of chances they created. That lack of clinical finishing proved costly.

In the 41st minute, Inter Miami won a corner kick after back-to-back saves from point-blank range by Schulte. Schulte rose up to intercept the ball in the air but missed it, leaving Campana space to head the ball into the goal and put Inter Miami into the lead once again.

"I didn't like the game because the way we conceded the first goal, this is not us," Nancy said. "Usually, we deal better with these kinds of situations. ... After that, Pat made a few saves also. We didn't connect the way (usually) we connect defensively, not because they played better, but because we didn't respect some cues."

In the second half, Inter Miami was content to let the Crew have the ball and defended in a low block, knowing that last week, the Crew faced the same situation at Charlotte and couldn't find a way to score a goal. Most of the chances the Crew generated were from outside the 18-yard box or just a few yards inside it; they rarely were able to penetrate deeply into the box and challenge Callender to make difficult saves.

Nancy substituted forward Jacen Russell-Rowe for midfielder Alex Mățan at halftime and added a third forward, Christian Ramírez, in the 85th minute, but none of the changes enabled the Crew to find the goal they were searching for. The loss to Inter Miami is the Crew's first loss at home this season, and leaves a sour taste for Nancy and his players as the Crew head into a 10-day break between games.

"They sat back defensively and it was hard to penetrate through the middle," Hernandez said through a translator. "Kudos to them. They defended very well. We tried attacking through different areas, but it didn't work out for us. ... They were very intense. They brought the intensity that if we would've matched or exceeded their intensity, we would've come out victorious. Unfortunately for us, we weren't intense like they were. We needed to be more aggressive in this type of game to be able to come out with a positive result."

In-game updates: Columbus Crew vs. Inter Miami

Full time: Columbus Crew lose 2-1 to Inter Miami

The Crew chased the game for the entirety of the second half but never found a way through Inter Miami's defense to score the tying goal. It was a nearly identical second half to last week's loss at Charlotte, and the Crew got the same end result as they lost 2-1.

46': Jacen Russell-Rowe enters for Alex Mățan

Nancy made one change to begin the second half, with forward Jacen Russell-Rowe entering the game for midfielder Alex Mățan. The Crew struggled to break down Inter Miami's low block in the first half, and adding a second forward alongside Cucho Hernandez changes how Inter Miami will have to defend the Crew's attack. Mățan also picked up a knock to his left knee late in the first half on a foul by Nicolas Stefanelli, which played a role in the decision to remove him from the game.

Halftime: Inter Miami leads Columbus Crew 2-1

Behind two goals from Leonardo Campana, Inter Miami leads the Crew 2-1 at halftime. Hernandez scored his first goal of the season in the 10th minute to tie the game 1-1 after Campana's opener in the seventh minute, but the Crew couldn't capitalize on the chances they had after that, despite having 70% of the possession in the first half.

41': Inter Miami regains the lead

The Crew controlled possession for much of the first half, but beginning around the 37th minute, Inter Miami began to apply increased pressure. Schulte made back-to-back saves in the 41st minute to keep the game level, but Campana scored his second goal of the game off a corner kick immediately after to put Inter Miami up 2-1.

13': Miloš Degenek leaves game with injury

On the ensuing kickoff after Cucho Hernandez's tying goal, Degenek suffered an apparent injury. He was substituted off and Philip Quinton took his place in the middle of the Crew's back three — the second game in a row that the Crew have had to make a substitute due to injury in the first 15 minutes.

10': Cucho Hernandez scores his first goal of the season

The Crew had all of the possession after Miami's goal, and Hernandez needed mere moments to score his first goal of the season. Zelarayán passed the ball from just outside the 18-yard box to Hernandez in the corner of the area with plenty of space, and Hernandez turned and fired a strike into the far corner of the net.

7': Inter Miami takes the lead

Benjamin Cremaschi flicked a header toward forward Campana, and Campana had an easy finish past goalkeeper Patrick Schulte. Crew had control of the run of play in the first minutes, but it didn't take long for Miami to expose them on the counter-attack.

1': Kickoff at Lower.com Field

Cucho Hernandez kicked the ball into play, and we are underway at Lower.com Field. After some rain a couple of hours ago, the sun came out in time for kickoff in front of a sold-out stadium.

Columbus Crew starting XI

After playing 45 minutes in Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup win over Indy Eleven, his first game back from a knee injury, striker Cucho Hernandez is set to make his first MLS start since March 11. New addition Malte Amundsen, who the Crew acquired in a trade with New York City FC on Monday to replace the injured Will Sands, is on the bench. Amundsen just arrived in Columbus on Thursday, so he's still getting up to speed with the Crew but could be a factor as a substitute.

Columbus Crew starters: Patrick Schulte (goalkeeper); Gustavo Vallecilla (center back), Miloš Degenek (center back), Steven Moreira (center back); Yaw Yeboah (left wingback), Darlington Nagbe (central midfielder), Aidan Morris (central midfielder), Mo Farsi (right wingback); Lucas Zelarayán (attacking midfielder), Alex Mățan (attacking midfielder); Cucho Hernandez (striker).

Columbus Crew bench: Evan Bush, Philip Quinton, Isaiah Parente, Christian Ramírez, Malte Amundsen, Jacen Russell-Rowe, Keegan Hughes, Sean Zawadzki, Max Arfsten.

Inter Miami starting XI

Drake Callender (goalkeeper), Franco Negri (left back), Kamal Miller (center back), Sergii Kryvtsov (center back), DeAndre Yedlin (right back); Jean Mota (central midfielder), Dixon Arroyo (central midfielder); Nicolas Stefanelli (left winger), Benjamin Cremaschi (attacking midfielder), Corentin Jean (right winger); Leonardo Campana (striker).

Inter Miami bench: Christopher McVey, Victor Ulloa, Robert Taylor, Josef Martinez, Harvey Neville, Rodolfo Pizarro, Nick Marsman, David Ruiz, Shaynder Borgelin.

bjohnson@dispatch.com

@BaileyAJohnson_

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew handed first home loss by Inter Miami