“We have our destiny in our hands, which is only what you can hope for. We’ll see.”
Three months ago, the Columbus Crew were fighting through three competitions with a constantly-rotated squad. Arrivals replaced key departures, and a congested schedule only made things murkier. This was a grind with no end in sight.
Well, the Black & Gold have reached the end … and it’s looking pretty lovely.
As interim head coach Laurent Courtois said, “We have our destiny in our hands.”
Thanks to a 3-0 Halloween win over D.C. United on Saturday afternoon at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, things are quite clear for arguably the hottest team in the Eastern Conference: win and in.
The Black & Gold can clinch an Audi MLS Cup Playoff berth with a Toronto FC loss or draw at Atlanta United FC coupled with a Red Bull New York loss or draw at Nashville SC. Both matches kick off on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 4:30 p.m. ET.
When Crew players woke up Sunday morning with an extra hour of rest, they sat eighth in the Eastern Conference standings with 44 points. FC Cincinnati is two points higher – and has an automatic spot – while Orlando’s on 43 points. Tenth-place Red Bulls New York has 39 points from 32 matches.
Columbus didn’t get here by chance. It was through an earned fight-straight league wins. The side is 8-1-1 over 10 games across all competitions, and four only the fourth time in club history, has seven wins from its last eight fixtures.
“There's a good base. This is a team,” Courtois said. “This shows cohesion and chemistry. Yes, everybody has individual characteristics, but for the most part, they have a [team] identity which is the most important thing.”
And it was on display Saturday afternoon.
The Crew struck first in the 17th minute when Sean Zawadzki’s header from a Dylan Chambost free kick produced the captain’s first league goal in 2026.
Zawadzki became the first outfield player in Club history to play every single minute in a regular season through 33 matches – 2,970 minutes.
D.C. could’ve equalized seven minutes later, but the penalty attempt drifted off target. Instead, Columbus doubled the lead in the 41st minute through a beautiful back-post curler from Anass Zaroury.
“It was a good game,” Zaroury said. “It was important for us to have a win, especially what’s happening now on the table. We know that we have to concentrate on every game to make sure we can win every game, and that’s what we did. We stick together until the end.”
A D.C. own goal cemented the 3-0 Columbus win.
“Really nothing but praise to this group of what they were able to do again and in a difficult context because of just the nature of where D.C. is in the season,” Courtois said. “It's really tough to approach that type of game when the team plays free, sort of saying, and a lot of individuals with ambition to show. It was a tough match for us to approach also based on their style of play. The guys responded really well.”
And with that, focus turns toward Sunday’s matches and next week’s Decision Day.
The Crew can clinch the postseason by Monday morning. If not, their chance arrives next Saturday in the Windy City, when the Black & Gold close the 2026 regular season at Chicago Fire FC.
“Obviously, it's been a long season for us, and we know there's been some disappointment for the fans,” Zawadzki said. “So, the last month of the season has been really good for us, and they deserve to enjoy. And I think we saw that again tonight, being able to score three goals at home, end the regular season at home with the win in front of them, it goes a long way. And you know, hopefully we'll watch tomorrow, see how the results go, and hopefully we have another game here at home.”
