As Jamal Thiaré smashed his shot into the net, Scotts-Miracle Gro Field descended into scenes of bedlam.
Crew supporters went hysterical, as the lights flickered and the factory whistle joined the massive roar in the stands. On the pitch, players rushed toward Thiaré. Soon, interim head coach Laurent Courtois did, too.
In a year of continual adversity, the Columbus Crew just produced their biggest win of the regular season to date: a 2-1 victory over Inter Miami CF on Sunday night. The go-ahead goal arrived the 99th minute and was worth the wait.
“It was an amazing, complete performance by the guys,” Courtois said after the match. “They have been rewarded for what they created. A couple of nice stories. (Midfielder) Sekou Bangoura was injured against Miami in the first game. (Forward) Jamal had a lot of issues and for him to score the winning goal. (Forward) Josef (Martínez) to obtain and score the PK, and what (Midfielder) Brais (Méndez) did in order for Josef to feel safe taking the PK. Those little things beside the performance, I saw a lot of friendship and cohesion, and it was good.
“Today, like a few last performances, everything was complete from start to finish. Really pleased with the way they have each other's back, especially facing that type of environment with the referee and what Miami likes to create around the in between plays. Really credit to the guys to keep their head on the shoulders and not lose it.”
Josef Martínez put Columbus in front in the 28th minute when he converted a penalty to score his first MLS goal with the Crew.
The visitors leveled the match five minutes later via an outrageous free kick from Lionel Messi, but the Crew dug in and searched for a second. One nearly arrived in the 55th when Malte Amundsen smashed a long-range strike off the cross bar.
That set the stage for Thiaré’s late theatrics – and the second time he’s scored in a pivotal match this season. (The first being in the Hell is Real derby against FC Cincinnati this past July.)
“Yeah, I think we know what we're capable of, and it's been the story of us all year,” goalkeeper Patrick Schulte said. “We know what we're capable of, but it's just putting it together piece by piece, and we were able to do that tonight. Like I said, to come away with three points here tonight in front of this incredible atmosphere was amazing, and we're excited to have a little break now, but we know October is going to be a crazy month, and we're going to use this one tonight and the Montréal game to kind of kickstart us in the right direction.”
With the win, the Black & Gold rest on 29 points with 27 matches played. With eight matches remaining, Columbus is four points back of the Eastern Conference play-in.
The Crew are now off on an international break and will resume play on Oct. 10 at Orlando City SC. The side’s next home match is the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on Oct. 21 at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field. Tickets are still available for the cup final.
