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Gonzalo Tapia scored and added an assist and Patrick Schulte made eight saves as the surging Columbus Crew defeated host FC Cincinnati 2-0 on Sunday to move closer to playoff positioning.
Tapia opened the scoring in the 22nd minute and set up Taha Habroune in the 54th for the Crew (10-15-5, 35 points), who have won five of their last six to move to within one point of ninth-place Cincinnati for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with four matches left.
Cincinnati (9-11-9, 36 points) has lost four of five and is 1-5-3 in its past nine matches.
The Crew took the lead over a temporary 10-player Cincinnati side when defender Tyrell Malacia was off the field while being tended to for an injury. He returned immediately after the goal was scored.
Brais Mendez took a corner kick for the Crew and sent a ball to the back post where an unmarked Tapia converted a 5-yard header.
The Crew, who had 60 shot attempts in the past two matches — including 22 in the first half vs. Charlotte FC in the previous match — scored on one of just two shots in the first half.
Columbus was outshot 24-4 in the game and scored on its only two shots on target in sweeping the Hell is Real derby season series for the first time.
The Crew extended the lead in the 54th with the 20-year-old Columbus native Habroune scoring in a third straight match to give him five tallies on the season.
Santi Rodriguez started the play with a ball ahead to Tapia on the left wing. He made a cutback pass to Habroune 12 yards in front of the goal and the youngster’s shot tucked inside the far left post.
As a standalone match, the Ohio rivals clearly knew what was at stake. Cincinnati had a chance to leap the Red Bulls (36 points) for eighth place and widen the gap over 10th-place Toronto FC (36 points) with five matches left.
Cincinnati will make up its game-in-hand on Wednesday with the start of a critical home-and-home against D.C. United.
Meanwhile, the Crew have been chasing a playoff spot since the return to play in late July after the two-month World Cup break.
–Field Level Media
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