The Fire journeyed to Columbus, Ohio on the team’s first winning streak of the season after winning the previous two contests against the defending Supporters’ Shield winner New York Red Bulls and defending MLS Cup champion Sporting Kansas City.
The Fire sought a third straight victory, but ultimately did nothing more than hurt New York, losing 2-0 at the hands of the Crew and allowing the home team to pass the Red Bulls for the final playoff seed.
Without defending MLS MVP Mike Magee on the gameday roster, striker Juan Luis Anangono found an opportunity to start alongside the team’s leading goalscorer, Quincy Amarikwa. The Columbus defense thwarted Anangono’s quest to leave a mark, limiting him to a single shot, which was not placed on target. Though Amarikwa tallied three shots – all on target – the team only managed four shots on target as a whole. Amarikwa received a yellow card in the 57th minute on a diving call.
Federico Higuain assisted both of Columbus’s goals. Midfielder Ethan Finlay managed to get past Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson in the 10th minute. Neither Johnson nor defender Greg Cochrane could get to the ball as Finlay gave Columbus an early 1-0 lead. Forward Jairo Arrieta concluded the scoring 15 minutes later, and the Crew eventually won the game 2-0.
The Fire sit in eighth place with three matches left before the World Cup break: June 1 at home against the LA Galaxy, June 4 at the Colorado Rapids and June 7 at home against Seattle Sounders FC.
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