The Columbus Crew did their part on Saturday afternoon, beating D.C. United 3-0 at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field in Columbus to keep their unlikely playoff push alive — but, as The Columbus Dispatch reported, whether the win is enough to clinch a postseason spot will not be settled until two games are played on Sunday, Nov. 1.
First-half goals by Sean Zawadzki and Anass Zaroury gave Columbus a 2-0 lead at halftime, according to The Columbus Dispatch, and the margin grew to 3-0 in the 61st minute when D.C. United’s Kimoto Nono scored into his own net under pressure from Santiago Rodriguez.
Zaroury’s goal was the highlight of the afternoon. As The Columbus Dispatch described it, Zaroury settled a cross-field pass from midfielder Dylan Chambost and drove a shot inside the right post from about 15 yards out in the 41st minute.
Chambost assisted on both first-half goals, The Columbus Dispatch reported, his second straight home match with multiple assists after setting up three goals in the Crew’s 4-2 victory over Toronto on Oct. 24.
The win lifted Columbus to 13-15-5 on the season, a record that looked out of reach two months ago. As NewsForce247 reported in its preview of Saturday’s match, the Crew sat last among the Eastern Conference’s 15 teams on Sept. 1 before a four-match winning streak pulled them back into ninth place.
The turnaround also included a 2-0 win at FC Dallas on Wednesday, in which goalkeeper Patrick Schulte made seven saves for his seventh shutout of the season, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Saturday’s match doubled as a farewell of sorts. The Crew honored veteran goalkeeper Evan Bush, the Akron native who announced he will retire after the 2026 season — a story NewsForce247 covered in its report on Bush’s announcement.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What we know: Columbus won the match it had to win, finished the day in playoff position, and got the performance it needed from Chambost, Zawadzki and Zaroury. What we’re still waiting on: Sunday’s two 4 p.m. ET results, which will decide whether the Crew’s season continues.
The clinching math is simple. Columbus clinches if Toronto FC loses or draws against Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls lose or draw at Nashville SC, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Either result going the wrong way leaves the Crew’s fate to the season’s final matches.
D.C. United arrived already eliminated from playoff contention after a loss to Toronto on Oct. 28, and played without Tai Baribo, who had scored 16 of the club’s 39 goals this season, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
What happens next: Crew fans become scoreboard watchers on Sunday afternoon. If the help arrives, Columbus can begin preparing for the postseason; if not, the final stretch of the regular season becomes must-win territory.
The result completed a remarkable late-season arc for a club that, on Sept. 1, occupied last place in the East, five points behind Orlando City for the ninth and final postseason berth and 11 points back of sixth-place FC Cincinnati, according to The Columbus Dispatch. A four-match winning streak, as part of six victories in seven matches, carried Columbus back into ninth place with two matches to play before Saturday.
Columbus also got good news on the injury front this week: coach Laurent Courtois said Friday that Brais Mendez, who has five goals and four assists in 13 matches, would be available after missing the past two matches with an injury, according to The Columbus Dispatch — depth that matters if the Crew’s season extends into the postseason.
For D.C. United, the afternoon closed a difficult stretch. United was eliminated from playoff contention on Oct. 28 after a 2-1 loss to Toronto, according to The Columbus Dispatch, and its makeshift attack, missing Baribo, never seriously threatened Schulte’s goal on Saturday.
Whatever Sunday brings, Saturday’s crowd got a performance worthy of the stakes: a clean sheet, two first-half goals and a second-half cushion, in the club’s final home match of the regular season. The Crew’s resurgence — from last place on Sept. 1 to the edge of the playoffs on Oct. 31 — is already one of the stories of the MLS season in Ohio, and Sunday’s results will decide whether it gets another chapter.
Photo: Nova Crystallis, CC BY-SA