Columbus Crew registered their first away win in nearly six years in Montreal as they beat their Canadian opponents 4-2 at the Saputo Stadium in their last game before the European international break.
The vast majority of Montreal’s games this season have been won by the team scoring first (a whopping 24 out of 26), and this game was no different, with the Crew prevailing 4-2 thanks to a fine hat trick from Cucho Hernandez.
Montreal got off to a terrible start when Mexican defender Gabriele Corbo scored an own goal in the 18th minute. The Ohio based outfit went two goals ahead when Uruguayan Diego Rossi’s pinpoint cross found Hernandez for the first of his three goals on the evening, and the Colombian’s header from close range comfortably found the back of the net.
Ousman Jabang’s defending left a lot to be desired for Hernandez’s first goal, but he nearly atoned for it at the other end, but his effort from a corner was brilliantly turned on to the bar by Crew keeper Patrick Schulte.
Jabang was again at fault for the Crew’s third that came just before half time. He was caught in possession, and Yaw Yeboah capitalised to find Cucho, who scored from close range. Montreal’s defenders appealed for offside (and it looked like a close one), but to no avail.
The Crew are a fantastic attacking team- they have the most goals across both conferences at the time of writing, and are very much in the race for the playoffs. If you fancy them to go far, there are some pretty nice Ohio sportsbook promos that can be used to wager a punt on Wilfried Nancy’s men.
Hernandez sealed his hat trick in the second half with a goal from the spot. George Campbell’s foul in the box drew the attention of VAR, and Hernandez duly sent Jonathan Sirois the wrong way with his spot kick.
The only bright spot for Montreal was youngster Jules Vilsaint. Coming off the bench, the 20-year-old first set up a goal for Kwadwo Opaku and then scored himself in the 68th minute to make it 4-2. There were no further goals in the final quarter though, and the game finished 4-2 in favour of the Crew.
It was a nice win for the Crew. Montreal, if you remember, finished third overall last season and reached the Conference semi finals before going down 3-1 to NYCFC.
Columbus were also only one of three sides to win on the road in the league this weekend- the other two being Orlando City (1-0 at Cincinnati) and Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami (3-1 at LAFC). Every other game in the round saw the home team either win or draw.
The Crew’s next game is against Orlando, while Montreal will square off against Chicago.