Your Columbus Crew SC are the 2020 Eastern Conference Champions and are heading to the MLS Cup after Artur’s second-half goal was enough to defeat the New England Revolution 1-0 at a chilly MAPFRE Stadium.
Crew SC came into the game unchanged from last week and dominated the early minutes with wave after wave of attack yet were unable to convert into anything but corner kicks as New England simply tried to hold back the Columbus attack and try to get into the game.
Both Lucas Zelarayan and Pedro Santos had notable shots on goal, yet found Rev’s ‘keeper Matt Turner in good form, palming away multiple attempts at goal as the teams went into the break level.
Patience once again paid of for Crew SC as they took the lead into the second half when a Zelarayan Cross found Jonathan Mensah in the box and the Crew captain set the ball into the path of Artur who squeezed his shot into the corner of the net.
Zelarayan almost doubled the hosts lead with a searing shot that hit the post and while the single-goal lead gave New England enough hope to pile on the late pressure, however, it wasn’t enough as the final whistle came to send Crew SC into their first final in five years.
The MLS Cup takes place next Saturday at 8pm, right here at MAPFRE with limited crowd attendance.
For more information, visit columbuscrewsc.com.
Matt Ellis is a freelance photographer who covers bands that visit the city and the Columbus Crew MLS team. More about Matt can be found on his Instagram.
All photos by Matt Ellis