Minnesota United eliminates Columbus Crew from Leagues Cup on penalty kicks
A hug proved to be the turning point.
With a berth in the Round of 16 on the line in Leagues Cup play, the Columbus Crew and Minnesota United FC had each successfully taken their first three penalty kicks. That sent the Crew's Kevin Molino, a former Minnesota player, to the spot for his attempt.
United goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was waiting there to give his former teammate a bear hug. Molino didn't particularly seem to want it, the fans howled and the referee quickly cleared the moment up. But Molino's attempt was then saved, setting off a stretch of five straight misses before Minnesota's Miguel Tapias converted in the sixth round of penalty kicks.
It gave Minnesota the win and handed the Crew, which held the lead as the 90th minute loomed, a disappointing defeat.
"We cannot concede a third goal," coach Wilfried Nancy said. "To win games at home, yes we had the possibility to score more goals but three is enough. The game has to be finished."
The Crew looked to have taken an immediate lead in penalties when Cucho Hernandez scored and Evan Bush made a save on Emanuel Reynoso, but the attempt was overturned and the Minnesota midfielder converted on his second try as fans in the Nordecke chanted expletives at the referee.
As the clock approached the 90th minute, the Crew looked assured of a berth in the Round of 16. Instead, Emanuel Reynoso slipped his way into the penalty area, crossed the ball to Hassani Dotson and saw his right-footed shot from the center of the box deflected off a Crew defender and into the back of the net.
It was a stunner, and it answered a go-ahead goal from Christian Ramirez in the 83rd minute that gave the Crew a 3-2 lead. It also set off a back-and-forth seven minutes of stoppage time that saw each team produce significant chances. The Crew's Kevin Molino had two of them, the final of which was a straight-on, right-footed blast that went wide right of the net in the closing seconds.
It set up penalty kicks, the 14th Leagues Cup game to be decided by them.
"I said before the game I think we had one of the most difficult (challenges) of the round, coming here the way Columbus has been playing at home," Minnesota coach Adrian Heath said. "So for us to come away with a victory speaks volume for the effort and commitment of the guys."
Alex Matan put the Crew ahead early in the second half. As the Crew pressed the attack up the right flank, Cucho Hernandez played the ball forward to a charging Darlington Nagbe, who was approaching the penalty area near the middle of the field. He quickly played the ball back toward midfield, where a charging Matan was already winding up. He unloaded, and the right-footed result blew past Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair to make it 2-1 Crew in the 51st minute.
"I was kind of disappointed with my first half," Matan said. "I lost some easy balls. I was a bit disappointed in myself. I went into the locker room, locked in and tried to have a better performance. I’m happy the goal came."
The lead wouldn’t last long. Three minutes later, Bongokuhle Hlongwane charged into the box and finished a Joseph Rosales cross for his second goal of the night. He was shaken up on the play but remained in the game, having recorded his second brace in as many games.
After the offside flag and video-assisted replay had helped wipe the last three goals scored against the Crew off the scoreboard at Lower.com Field, Minnesota finally found a way to break through – even as Crew fans protested. After having taken a 1-1 score into the half on Monday night, Club America had consecutive goals erased by offside calls before Minnesota had a likely goal negated Friday night.
Nine minutes in, Gahanna native Wil Trapp played a through ball up the field to Teemu Pukki, whose cross back toward the center of the field from the left side of the penalty area struck a sliding Crew defender. As he braced himself on the way down with his left arm, Sean Zawadzki was struck in what appeared to be the back of his armpit as the official blew the whistle and signaled for a penalty kick. Emanuel Reynoso walked toward the spot, but he was halted as the referee signaled for a video review.
It overturned the chance, but Minnesota would strike first moments later. Reynoso started a counter by spinning around Zawadzki, deftly dodging his challenge, and blasting a long diagonal ball to the left flank and two of his teammates. With only the Crew’s Steven Moreira in the space, Pukki took possession and fed it to Hlongwane, who buried it in the 17th minute for the 1-0 lead. Hlongwane might’ve been offside – and Crew fans certainly thought so – but the result stood.
"When you’ve got a guy like Reynoso on the other side, he can be disconnected from the game, the ball pops out to him and he’s got some magic in him," Ramirez said. "He showed that on that first goal. That’s why he’s one of the best No. 10s in this league."
It took the air out of an uncharacteristically sparse crowd, which only four days earlier had been packed with Club America supporters drumming furiously throughout the 4-1 Crew win. And without Lucas Zelarayan directing things, the Crew continued to loft cross after aimless cross without seeing much in the way of an actual scoring chance.
Until, in the 42nd minute, Hernandez took advantage of a slight opening on the left wing and played the ball forward to Malte Amundsen. His left-footed shot from the left side of the area deflected off St. Clair’s hands and into the top left corner of the net to tie the game. Amundsen nearly made it a 2-1 lead during first-half stoppage time from nearly the same spot, but this time St. Clair was able to get two hands on the blast and deflect it out of harm’s way.
Two of the Crew’s summer transfer window additions made their starting debuts. Midfielder Julian Gressel and defender Yevhen Cheberko saw action as reserves in Monday’s win against Club America, marking Cheberko’s second appearance for the club, but both started against the Loons. Coach Wilfried Nancy continued to rotate his goaltenders in Leagues Cup play – after starting against St. Louis City SC in the opener and giving way to Patrick Schulte against Club America, Evan Bush returned to the starting lineup.
Cheberko was subbed off at halftime for Yaw Yeboah. Gressel came off in the 78th minute for Mo Farsi.
In his first return to Columbus since being traded after the 2019 season, Trapp was shown a yellow card in the 79th minute. He was recognized on the scoreboard during pregame warmups and was the first Minnesota player to take the field.
Trapp subbed off in the 85th minute and clapped toward the fans as he reached the sideline while some rose to applaud.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Penalty kicks sink Columbus Crew in Leagues Cup loss to Minnesota
