Columbus Crew Strike Through Farsi and a Brais Mendez Free Kick Stunner to Beat CF Montreal 2-0

Columbus Crew took all three points from Stade Saputo with a 2-0 win over CF Montreal in an MLS match that was decided in an eleven-minute stretch in the second half. The first half ended scoreless despite the home side enjoying more possession and more corners and creating some chances of its own, but it was Columbus that struck first just after the restart.

Everything changed in the 56th minute, when Mohamed Farsi popped up on the right side of the box and finished low, just inside the left post, off an assist from Sean Zawadzki. Montreal looked for an immediate response: three minutes later, Prince Owusu turned the ball home and Stade Saputo briefly celebrated the equalizer, but VAR reviewed the play and chalked off the goal. It proved to be the psychological blow that tipped the balance for good.

Columbus made the most of the break the video review handed them, and in the 67th minute the game was put to bed: Brais Mendez stepped up for a direct free kick and curled the ball into the top left corner, an unstoppable strike for any goalkeeper. With the score at 2-0, CF Montreal threw on attacking reinforcements (Dante Sealy, Wiki Carmona, Daniel Rios and Matty Longstaff all came on) and pushed for a way back with shots from Carmona, Sealy and Owusu himself, but couldn't find a way through. Seven minutes of second-half stoppage time were added, during which Longstaff tried his luck from outside the box without success.

What the Numbers Say

CF Montreal controlled more of the ball and generated more volume from set pieces, but Columbus Crew was sharper in front of goal.

According to our xG estimate calculated from the match's shots, Columbus Crew generated 0.74 expected goals to CF Montreal's 0.49, a gap that backs up how things played out on the scoreboard even though the home side had the edge in possession.

Heading into the match, our projection gave Columbus Crew a 42% chance of winning, against 30% for CF Montreal and 28% for a draw, with a combined expected goals total of 2.90 (1.32 for the home side and 1.58 for the visitors). The final result, a 2-0 shutout on the road, landed on the more likely side of that forecast, though the margin ended up more decisive than the numbers suggested.

What the Result Means

The win helps Columbus Crew add to a season in which they arrived with a record of 7 wins, 5 draws and 14 losses in 26 matches played. CF Montreal, for its part, is left with 5 wins, 6 draws and 15 losses in the same number of matches. In the Eastern Conference standings, both teams sit near the bottom: Columbus is 13th with 26 points and Montreal rounds out the table in 15th with 21, a five-point gap between them.

For CF Montreal, the psychological blow of the disallowed Owusu goal stands out as the turning point of a night in which they generated more possession and more corners but couldn't turn it into goals. Columbus, on the other hand, was more clinical: one clean finish and one perfect direct free kick were all it needed to leave Stade Saputo with all three points.