FC Cincinnati 0-2 Columbus Crew: Visitors win the derby to revive play-off hopes

Columbus Crew beat fierce rivals FC Cincinnati 2-0 in the derby at TQL Stadium to revive their hopes of reaching the MLS Cup Play-offs.

Goals from Gonzalo Tapia and Taha Habroune carried Laurent Courtois' side to victory, moving them to within one point and two places of Cincinnati, who occupy the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Cincinnati dominated much of the match, with Teenage Hadebe and David Doudera coming close, but it was the visitors who broke the deadlock. In the 22nd minute, Tapia was left completely unmarked at the back post to head home Brais Mendez's deep corner and put his side in front.

Cincinnati stepped up the pressure after conceding, but goalkeeper Patrick Schulte stood tall to deny Tom Barlow and Evander, whose free kick took a deflection off the wall. The Crew then struck again 9 minutes into the second half. Chilean forward Tapia collected Santiago Rodriguez's pass on the right flank and cut the ball back, and 20-year-old Habroune fired a first-time finish into the bottom-left corner.

Columbus captain Sean Zawadzki's miscued touch sent the ball against his own post, while Kevin Denkey failed to hit the target from close range. Unable to change the scoreline in the remaining minutes, Cincinnati suffered a heavy blow as the regular season enters its final stretch.

Columbus Made the Most of Their Chances

The match statistics raise questions about how the Crew secured the win. The visitors managed only 3 shots in total, scored with both of their 2 efforts on target and generated just 0.3 expected goals (xG). Cincinnati, by contrast, left empty-handed despite firing 23 shots, 7 of them on target, and producing 1.91 xG.

Having bounced back after losing 7 of their previous 8 matches, the Crew have now won 5 of their last 6 games in all competitions, giving them a morale boost ahead of Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup final against St. Louis City.

For Cincinnati, defensive frailties were exposed once again. The Orange and Blue have been involved in 130 goals in total this season (68 scored, 62 conceded) and, with 4 weeks remaining, are dangerously close to the record for the highest-scoring season in league history.