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FINAL: Columbus Crew SC 1, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 0

Photo courtesy Columbus Crew

FINAL: Columbus Crew SC 1, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 0

 

Coverage to come from Matt Gajtka on site … including this postgame show with John Krysinsky.

Second half:

8:52 – 90’+ – Confusion on the Pittsburgh back line as Columbus packs it in. Adewole’s deep ball goes begging.

8:51 – 90′ – A minimum of two minutes will be added on. Franke’s square pass for Forbes goes awry. More frustration for the Hounds.

8:50 – 89′ – Last-ditch sub for Lilley: Dos Santos is in for Velarde. Heavy touch to start Dos Santos’ night.

8:48 – 87′ – The Crew is playing keep-away effectively. MLS’ original member club is a few minutes from Open Cup advancement.

8:42 – 82′ – Forbes lets fly from inside the 18 after Mertz backs off defenders … just high! That had some serious promise for Pittsburgh, but it’s getting late in central Ohio now.

8:39 – 78′ – Oh, my. Guzmán almost pulled off an all-timer. He bullishly avoided the tackles of two or three Hounds, but sizzles his laces-down strike just a foot outside the right post.

8:37 – 77′ – Crew makes another sub. J.J. Williams checks in to replace Mullins. Volesky is offside on the restart. Frustrating night for Christian, who had that glorious early chance but not much else since. Wonder if Brett will join him soon.

8:34 – 73′ – Just not a lot of possession for the Hounds right now. It’s under 30 percent, according to official statkeeping. Tommy V., Velarde and Mertz just strung together some passes, but Volesky couldn’t get on the end of Rovira’s strong cross to the back post.

8:29 – 68′ – MISS! Santos hits the crossbar with Morton diving the opposite way. The plot thickens. Bob Lilley calls for two subs: Vancaeyezeele for Forrest and Mertz for Kahsai.

8:28 – 67′ – PENALTY KICK, COLUMBUS. Adewole is whistled for running over Mullins in the box, chasing after Maloney’s cross. Santos will take for the Crew.

8:25 – 65′ – Santos rips a volley from the 18 that Greenspan blocks over the bar. Looked like Morton had it measured, but can’t assume anything on shots of that velocity.

8:24 – 64′ – Give Uzo credit for sticking with Robinho to the right of the Hounds’ goal. The Crew’s confidence is building, though.

8:19 – 58′ – More pressure from the Crew. Guzmán lifts a 20-yard drive high.

8:17 – 55′ – GOAL, COLUMBUS. Rovira loses his mark and Accam makes him pay. The Ghanian attacker slices through the penalty area and deflects Santos’ cross past a helpless Morton.

8:16 – 55′ – Action coming fast and furious. Artur’s 10-yard attempt blocked by Rovira after a quick combination of passes for the Crew.

8:14 – 54′ – Mercy. A couple of tremendous breaks for Hounds wingback Franke, who intercepts a poor clear. But the three-on-two counter doesn’t develop when Franke tries to beat his man to the middle.

8:13 – 53′ – A couple of early corner kicks for the Crew, but nothing doing. Morton with a strong two-fisted punch on the first, then Mullins headed the second over the goal.

8:07 – 46′ – Underway again from MAPFRE on what’s become a gem of an evening. Short-term former Hound Connor Maloney checks in for Columbus, replacing Harrison Afful.

First half:

7:50 – 45′ – No stoppage time. Take a break. Forty-five minutes down, 45 to go. Or maybe more.

7:48 – 44′ – Best chance for Columbus as a cross settles on Santos’ left foot, but Morton gets in the way of that hard crack. Solid positional save on the back post.

7:41 – 37′ – Forbes is looking frisky. Meanders through the midfield and nearly threads the ball through to Volesky. Columbus’ back line closes hard and Kempin swoops in to grab it. Hounds coming on a bit? They’ve definitely run off any nerves at this point.

7:39 – 35′ – The Crew’s Guzmán squeaks around Adelwole and squares it for Mullins, but Forbes saves the day with a burst of speed. Columbus corner, but Greenspan cleans up the mess.

7:35 – 29′ – Robinho wheels into the middle and rips a roller wide of Morton’s right post.

7:32 – 27′ – Beautiful flick-on from Forrest on Morton’s goal kick, sending Volesky ahead for a chance when Columbus’ Harrison Afful falls down. Not the best strike, though, as Kempin makes a routine save, reaching to his left.

7:28 – 24′ – Greenspan nods a cross over the bar, setting up a Crew corner. Columbus goes short with it, but Santos blasts a left-footed drive high.

7:24 – 21′ – Velarde takes a throw-in just outside the box and gets tripped. Free kick for Forbes, but he juuust misses the left post from 20 yards out. Snaked it past the Columbus wall but a yard wide. Great look.

7:18 – 14′ – Rovira gets loose again, this time on a switch after a build-up down the left side. Rovira’s cross is cut off at the top of the box, though.

7:13 – 8′ – Rovira makes a fine move inside the right touch line to get loose for a shot, but he misses badly to the short side.

7:12 – 7′ – Greenspan narrowly misses committing a handball in the box, but referee Matthew Franz rules he blocked Accam’s shot with his thigh.

7:09 – 4′ – Crew picking on the Hounds’ right side again, with Jiménez charging to the end line and playing back for Patrick Mullins, who skies the shot from the 6.

7:08 – 3′ – Robinho plants a foot and cuts into the Hounds’ 18-yard box, but tried an extra pass when he had a good look at goal.

Pregame:

6:59 – Looks like six of the 10 Crew starters also started their previous league match: Gastón Sauro, Héctor Jiménez, David Accam, Pedro Santos, Robinho and David Guzmán.

6:40 – This is the Hounds’ sixth all-time matchup against an MLS side, but just the second ever in an MLS facility against a Tier 1 foe. The Chicago Fire downed Pittsburgh, 2-1, on June 18, 2014 in the Chicagoland ‘burb of Bridgeview.

6:30 – The Steel Army is beginning its march to the south stands. It’s going to be rather difficult to gauge the percentage of Hounds fans in the crowd because of that whole sharing-colors thing. Bet on the black-and-gold team winning.

6:25 p.m. – Well, I have venue envy again. I realize MAPFRE Stadium is considered rather ‘bare bones’ at this level, but it’s fun to see how the other half lives.

Starting Lineups: 

Riverhounds SC 

GK – Kyle Morton

D – Dani Rovira, Tobi Adewole, Joe Greenspan, Uchenna Uzo, Noah Franke

MF – Sammy Kahsai, Kenardo Forbes, Anthony Velarde

F – Mark Forrest, Christian Volesky

Available subs: 

Austin Pack(GK), Neco Brett, Kevin Kerr, Thomas Vancaeyezeele, Steevan Dos Santos, Ryan James

Columbus Crew

The Crew, in their first match since June 1, roll out the following Starting XI.

If the keeper looks familiar, that’s the same Jon Kempin who started (and lost) against the Hounds in the home opener. Kempin was on loan from Columbus to Hartford Athletic for that one.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC vs Columbus Crew

Tuesday, June 11  |    7 p.m.

MAPFRE Stadium, Columbus, OH

Streaming: ESPN+

Live Updates: Twitter at @RiverhoundsSC and #USOC2019

For full US Open Cup coverage, visit thecup.us

Reporting from Columbus: Matt Gajtka

Pittsburgh Postgame with Matt Gajtka and John Krysinsky will follow the match. The link will be posted here.

GAMEDAY COVERAGE: 

Starting Line-ups will be posted here at approximately 6:35 p.m.

PREGAME COVERAGE: 

Mark Goodman‘s preview/scouting report of Columbus

Preview: Columbus Crew vs Pittsburgh Riverhounds

John Krysinsky talks gets thoughts from Bob Lilley and Robbie Mertz about this match-up vs. MLS Columbus Crew plus also recaps the five previous matches vs MLS clubs in the past 20 years.

Hounds head to Columbus with ‘cool opportunity’ to do something special in Open Cup

COLUMBUS’ US OPEN CUP HISTORY SNAPSHOT

Columbus has won the U.S. Open Cup title once in 2002, defeating the LA Galaxy 1-0 in front of the team’s home fans at MAPFRE Stadium. The Crew has played in the final of the U.S. Open Cup two other times, losing to the Chicago Fire 2-1 in 1998 and by the same score to the Seattle Sounders in 2010. Both of those games were on the road.

The last time Columbus failed to qualify for the U.S. Open Cup was in 2008. In each of the last two seasons, the Crew has failed to make it past the fourth round of the tournament. The Black & Gold were eliminated by then USL side FC Cincinnati 1-0 at Nippert Stadium in 2017 and fell in penalty kicks to the Chicago Fire last year after a 2-2 draw.

Glory on the Grass

Riverhounds MF Kenardo Forbes

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