COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Max Arfsten had a goal and two assists and Dylan Chambost scored a first-half goal on Sunday night to help the Columbus Crew avoid elimination from the MLS Cup playoffs and beat FC Cincinnati 4-0 in Game 2 of the best-of-three first-round series.
The series returns to TQL Stadium, where Cincinnati won the opener 1-0, for Game 3 on Saturday. The winner advances to the one-game Eastern Conference semifinals against No.3 seed Miami or sixth-seeded Nashville.
Jacen Russell-Rowe, who replaced Diego Rossi in the 61st minute, fed Andrés Herrera for a goal in the 65th and added a his first career playoff goal in the 69th.
Arfsten opened the scoring in the 33rd minute. Rossi, on the counter-attack, won a loose from defender Alvas Powell at the edge of the 18-yard box and poked it Arfsten on the left side of the area. The 24-year-old midfielder cut outside to evade goalkeeper Roman Celantano, who had charged off his line, and blasted a shot from the corner of the 6-yard box into the top-net for his third career playoff goal.
Yuya Kubo was shown a yellow card in the seventh minute and another in the 38th and No. 2 seed Cincinnati played a man down the rest of the way.
Chambost, whose shot in the seventh minute was stopped by Celentano, bent the ensuing free kick, from just outside the top of the box on the right side, inside the near post to make it 2-0 in the 41st.
The seventh-seeded Crew outshot Cincinnati 19-1.
Columbus defender Rudy Camacho, who had been sidelined due to a thigh injury, made his season debut when he subbed on 81st minute.
Celentano, who finished with five saves, dove to break up a cross played by Taha Habroune and was accidentally kicked in the head by Hugo Picard in the third minute. Celentano was evaluated for a head injury and was allowed to remain in the game.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Murder for Two Read moreMurder For Two
Much Ado About Nothing: A Modern Verse Translation, tells the timeless and hilarious story o… Read moreMills High School Much Ado About Nothing: A Modern Translation
Join us to meet Simi Monheit, the author of The Goldie Standard, and the 2024 Winner of the … Read moreMeet the Award-Winning Author of The Goldie Standard
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.