Columbus Crew vs CF Monterrey in CONCACAF Champions Cup: Follow Live

In their fifth appearance in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the Crew have reached the tournament’s championship game. In its previous attempts, Columbus had never advanced past the quarterfinals.

Going into the second leg with a 2-1 aggregate lead, the Crew quickly gave that lead away to CF Monterrey with the home team scoring in the first 15 minutes of the semifinal matchup.

In fact, Monterrey controlled most of the first half – that is until Crew midfielder Aidan Morris scored a goal in stoppage time off a costly mistake from Monterrey goalkeeper Estaban Andrada. Columbus came out in the second half and less than five minutes in, Diego Rossi scored the Crew’s second goal.

Takeaways:Columbus Crew take crucial 2-1 advantage over CF Monterrey in Champions Cup

A third goal from Jacen Russell-Rowe secured the Crew’s 5-2 aggregate victory and 3-1 match victory. Columbus will now face CF Pachuca on the road in the one-match final.

(90 + 7) Christian Ramirez misses penalty kick for Columbus Crew

The Crew were given a chance to expand their lead by four goals in aggregate with a late-game penalty kick opportunity in the 97th minute following a Monterrey foul in their own box. Christian Ramirez took the attempt, but had it saved by goalkeeper Esteban Andrada.

(89′) Jacen Russell-Rowe scores on Monterrey open goal

Jacen Rusell-Rowe pushed the Crew into a comfortable 5-2 aggregate lead and 3-1 match lead with a goal four minutes after entering the game for Cucho Hernandez.

The play started with Derrick Jones taking the ball away from Monterrey on the other side of the field, and once the ball got to Russell-Rowe, he was able to make some dribbles to take his shot with ease as Monterrey’s goal was left open by goalkeeper Estaban Andrada, who was playing high.

(85′) Columbus Crew substitution: Cucho Hernandez taken out of match

With less than 10 minutes left in regulation and a 4-2 aggregate goal lead, Crew coach Wilfried Nancy replaced Columbus’ leading scorer Cucho Hernandez with Jacen Russell-Rowe.

(80′) Patrick Schulte records fifth save of the match for Columbus Crew

Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte recorded his fifth save of the match off a close-range header shot from Jordi Cortizo. This matches his total from the first leg against Monterrey.

(74′) Columbus Crew substitutions: Crew make two additional substitutions

The Crew have made two more substitutions, Derrick Jones for Aidan Morris and Malte Amundsen for Yevhen Cheberko.

(69′) CF Monterrey substitution: Rodrigo Aguirre for Maximiliano Meza

With its fourth substitution of the match, Monterrey replaced Maximiliano Meza, who is the only player from the team to score against Columbus in the series, with Rodrigo Aguirre.

(54′) CF Monterrey substitutions: Former FC Cincinnati forward Brandon Vazquez enters match for Monterrey

Monterrey made two substitutions five minutes after the Crew’s second goal, putting in Brandon Vazquez for Luis Romo and Jordi Cortizo for Jesus Gallardo.

(49′) Diego Rossi puts Columbus Crew ahead 2-1 in the second leg

Crew forward Diego Rossi found the back of the net for the third time in Champions Cup play, this instance off an assist from Alex Matan.

From outside Monterrey’s box, Matan found Rossi within the center of the box. Rossi was quickly able to send the ball clearly past Monterrey goalkeeper Esteban Andrada to the left side of the goal to give Columbus a 4-2 aggregate lead.

(46′) Columbus Crew halftime substitution: Alex Matan for Marino Hinestroza

With the Crew’s first substitution of the match, coach Wilfried Nancy replaces forward Marino Hinestroza with Alex Matan.

(45′) Columbus Crew go into halftime with 3-2 aggregate lead

Despite Monterrey heavily controlling the first half in shot attempts, taking 7 compared to Columbus’ 3, and taking an early lead in the match, Crew midfielder Aidan Morris sent his team into halftime with the advantage 3-2 aggregate with a goal in stoppage time.

Monterrey now has to defeat the Crew by two goals this match to advance to the Champions Cup final in regulation or finish ahead 2-1 to force extra time and possibly penalty kicks. Columbus came into the match with a 2-1 aggregate lead and now has a tiebreaking away goal, if a tiebreaker is needed.

(45+4) Aidan Morris scores in first half stoppage time, Columbus Crew take 3-2 aggregate lead

Aidan Morris scored a goal for Columbus in the 48th minute of the first half to send the Crew into the locker room tied 1-1 in the match and with a 3-2 aggregate lead.

The play started with the ball in the hands of Monterrey goalkeeper Esteban Andrada, who grabbed a shot attempt and was looking to make a throw out of the box to his teammate. Morris would intercept his throw and take a long shot from the top of Monterrey’s box, which landed in the back left corner of the goal uncontested.

(45′) 4 minutes of stoppage time added to first half of Columbus Crew-CF Monterrey second leg

The fourth official on the sideline signaled for 4 minutes of additional time in the first half.

(43′) Sebastian Vegas taken out of match for CF Monterrey

After trying to return to the match following an injury due to a collision with Monterrey goalkeeper Esteban Andrada, Monterrey center back Sebastian Vegas is substituted out of the match and is replaced by Hector Moreno.

(36′) Sebastian Vegas down for CF Monterrey

Monterrey center back Sebastian Vegas was down for a few minutes following a collision with his own goalkeeper Esteban Andrada within Monterrey’s box. The collision came as Andrada was trying to clear the ball and in doing so, hit into his teammate Vegas.

Vegas was able to get up on his own after medical attention and remains in the match.

(34′) Marino Hinestroza draws foul, Sebastian Vegas given yellow card

Marino Hinestroza drew a foul, which was charged to Monterrey’s Sebastian Vegas, near the top of Monterrey’s box. Columbus was able to get the free kick into the box but was unable to find any scoring opportunity as Monterrey cleared the ball out. Vegas’ foul was given a yellow card by officials.

(11′) Maximiliano Meza sets up goal for CF Monterrey, Columbus Crew goes down 1-0 in second leg

Monterrey midfielder Maximiliano Meza helped even up the aggregate score early in the second leg for Monterrey, nearly putting the ball into the back of the net himself, but it was determined that he forced Crew defender Yevhen Cheberko to record an own goal.

Running up near the center of Columbus’ goal, Meza was found by teammate Jorge Rodriguez. Despite being contested by Cheberko and goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, Meza took control of the ball and sent the ball near the back of the net. The ball hit off Cheberko, which pushed the ball past the Crew’s goal line.

(7′) Darlington Nagbe records a yellow card violation

The Crew captain Darlington Nagbe is given a yellow card near the top of Columbus’ box following a handball violation. This set up a free kick for Monterrey a couple feet outside the Crew’s box, but Columbus blocked the kick and regained control.

(2′) Cucho Hernandez misses far right

The Crew recorded their first shot attempt of the match when Cucho Hernandez took a contested shot from the top of Monterrey’s box. The shot was too far right and went out of bounce.

Who are the officials for the Columbus Crew vs CF Monterrey second leg?

Here are the officials for the Crew-Monterrey match:

Referee: Juan Gabriel Calderon
1st assistant referee: Juan Carlos Mora
2nd assistant referee: William Arrieta
4th official: Walter Lopez
VAR: Benjamin Pineda

What does Columbus Crew have to do vs CF Monterrey to advance to Champions Cup final?

With a 2-1 aggregate lead following the first leg, the Crew will advance to the final if they finish the second leg with a win or draw. The Crew will also advance if they lose to Monterrey by one-goal, as long as they score at least two goals.