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There was definitely a soccer match played on Wednesday night. The Columbus Crew welcomed Montreal Impact to MAPFRE stadium where the Black & Gold fell 2-1, the team’s first home loss of 2020.
It was a close match score-wise, but Columbus looked out of sorts for spells of the game. Just after the two-minute mark, Artur missed receiving a pass that the Impact almost scored, but the shot hit the post.
In the 24th minute, Harrison Afful kept Bojan onside for a through pass followed by a shot that went off the crossbar but was finished by Lassi Lappalainen to put the visitors up 1-0. Right before the half, Gyasi Zardes faced in a goal to bring Columbus level.
Montreal took the lead again after an at-first confusing turn of events. Recent substitute Hector Jimenez knocked over Bojan in the penalty box, which was not immediately whistled as a penalty. After Columbus took the ball up the field, VAR confirmed that it was a penalty. Andrew Tarbell picked which side the shot would go to correctly but was just out of reach of stopping the game-winning goal.
The lineup was consistent with Caleb Porter’s recent choices, minus Aidan Morris who started in the midfield in place of injured Darlington Nagbe. Morris had a standout performance, in line with the minutes he’s had as a substitute this season. Fanendo Adi also made his way back into the lineup after injury to attempt to equal the score in the last 12 minutes.
Columbus will need to have a memory of a goldfish with Sunday’s match against Orlando City fast approaching. Orlando has not lost since Aug. 22 against Inter Miami, earning 16 points in the team’s unbeaten streak. The Black & Gold will be without Lucas Zelarayan and there is no update, as of the publishing of this article, if Nagbe will be available.
Make your picks for who Porter should put in the starting XI. Will keeping the lineup consistent help with so many changes over the past month? Are there any players on the team that you think need rest?
Let us know and we’ll share your picks in Sunday’s Supporters’ XI. It will be compared to a lineup predicted by a Massive Report contributor.