Crew Keep Playoff Dream Alive With 3-0 Rout of D.C. United

The Columbus Crew are suddenly the form team in the Eastern Conference, and their remarkable late-season surge took another step on Saturday with a comfortable 3-0 win over D.C. United at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field. Captain Sean Zawadzki opened the scoring in the 16th minute, heading home a Dylan Chambost free kick, before Anass Zaroury doubled the lead in the 41st minute after being found wide open on the left side of the penalty area. Chambost, the architect of both first-half goals, was again the game's most influential player, and his second assist was a driven diagonal ball that Zaroury curled into the far corner. Columbus completed the scoring in the second half when a breakaway ended with the ball deflecting in off D.C. defender Kimito Nono. Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte made four saves to preserve the clean sheet. The result lifted Columbus to 13-15-5 and 44 points, into eighth place with one game remaining, and the Crew can clinch a playoff place on Sunday if Toronto FC fail to win at Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls do not win at Nashville. That would complete a turnaround few imagined on September 1, when Columbus sat last in the East. D.C. United, meanwhile, have now lost five matches in a row and close their season at home to New York City FC next Saturday.