Columbus Crew take 2-1 victory over CF Monterrey in Champions Cup semifinal: Replay

Goals from forwards Cucho Hernandez and Jacen Russell-Rowe gave the Crew a 2-1 win over CF Monterrey in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals on Wednesday at Lower.com Field. The win broke the Crew's six-game streak of finishing matches in draws.

Monterrey's lone goal came off the foot of forward Maximiliano Meza.

The Crew have a 2-1 lead on aggregate. The Crew will face Monterrey in the second and final leg at 10:15 p.m. May 1 at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico.

Before the second leg, Columbus will host an MLS regular season match vs CF Montreal on Saturday.

The Crew had 17,145 people come out for their CONCACAF Champions Cup match vs CF Monterrey, which betters the attendance from both of their prior Champions Cup matches this year.

Cucho Hernandez was fouled by Luis Romo near midfield. Following the hit against Hernandez, the referee went to a VAR review to see if there were any additional fouls that needed to be handed-out but saw nothing extra.

(90') 4 minutes of stoppage time added to second half of Columbus Crew-CF Monterrey match

The fourth referee on the sidelines added 4 minutes of stoppage time to the match.

Three minutes after entering the match, Alex Matan is hit with a yellow card for poor sportsmanship. Matan delayed the match following an out of bounce call against Columbus.

Crew coach Wilfried Nancy made his first substitutions of the match, replacing Jacen Russell-Rowe with Alex Matan and Yaw Yeboah with Malte Amundsen.

The Crew regain the lead against Monterrey following a goal from Jacen Russell-Rowe off a Columbus corner kick.

Diego Rossi took the corner kick for Columbus from the right-side of the field following a shot attempt from Cucho Hernandez that came close to scoring, but was clear out of bounce by Monterrey midfielder Jesus Gallardo.

Sean Zawadzki was the first Crew player to find the ball off Rossi's corner and sent a pass off his head in the direction of Russell-Rowe. Standing close to Monterrey's goal, Russell-Rowe took a header shot that bounced past Monterrey goalkeeper Esteban Andrada.

(67') Maximiliano Meza of CF Monterrey handed first yellow card of the match for a foul against Cucho Hernandez

Near midfield, Cucho Hernandez suffered a hard hit from Monterrey's Maximiliano Meza that sent Hernandez to the ground and earned Meza a yellow card.

Monterrey forward Maximiliano Meza was able to sneak a goal past Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, who was on the ground after diving to attempt to save a shot from Jesus Gallardo.

Gallardo's shot, that came from the left side of the field, was too soft to make it past the Crew's goal line, but the ball took a bounce towards Meza, who was crashing near on the right side of the net. Taking control of the ball, Meza was able to send it to the bottom-left corner of Columbus' goal, evening the match 1-1.

(56') Columbus Crew record zero shot attempts in first 10 minutes of second half

While Monterrey created multiple opportunities near Columbus' goal, the Crew were unable to get any shots off in the first 10 minutes of play in the second half. Monterrey's defense has had success keeping Columbus out of their box coming out of halftime.

The goal from striker Cucho Hernandez stands as the only goal in the first half of the match, giving Columbus a 1-0 lead going into halftime.

It is a rarity for Columbus, but after 45 minutes of play, the Crew is losing the possession battle. Monterrey controlled the ball 54% of the first half compared to the Crew's 46%.

Monterrey also recorded more shots than Columbus, with 6 shot attempts compared to 4.

(45') 1 minute of stoppage time added to first half

The referee signaled for 1 minute of stoppage time to be added at the end of first half regulation.

(36') Sergio Canales shot attempt for Monterrey misses far right

Monterrey midfielder Serigo Canales almost evened up the score in the 36th minutes with a soft shot attempt from inside the Crew's box. The shot was contested by Crew defender Yevhen Cheberko, and would end up going far right, past the post and out of bounce.

Cucho Hernandez scores the first goal of the match for Columbus Crew with a shot near the center of the field from outside Monterrey's box. Jacen Russell-Rowe awarded the assist.

After taking control of the ball on Monterrey's side of the field, Hernandez made a quick pass forward to Russell-Rowe, who dished the ball back to Hernandez while he was speeding up-field. Hernandez launched his shot to the left side of the net, and despite Esteban Andrada diving to attempt a save, the ball went right past the Monterrey goalkeeper.

The Crew had their first good look of the match within the around the 18-minute mark, when Cucho Hernandez made a pass to Diego Rossi in Monterrey's box. Rossi, crashing towards the goal on the left side of the field, took his shot the second the ball got to his feet, but it went far left.

Nearly a minute later, Hernandez took an attempt of his of in the center of Monterrey's box, but goalkeeper Esteban Andrada was able to tip it and send it out of bounce.

(14') Monterrey awarded first corner kick of the match

With the first corner of the match, Monterrey opted for a quick pass near the corner kick flag, trying to set up a play from outside Columbus' box. When Monterrey attempted to make a pass into Columbus' box, Jacen Russell-Rowe cleared the ball up field.

Nearing the 6-minute mark, Monterrey's Brandon Vazquez took his team's first shot attempt of the match in front of Columbus' goal.

Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte made a slight jump to his left to record his first save of the match. Yaw Yeboah quickly cleared the ball out of the Crew's box and to the sideline.

(1') Cucho Hernandez records first foul of the match for Columbus Crew

Less than a minute into the match, Crew striker Cucho Hernandez records a foul near midfield while attempting to gain possession of the ball from Monterrey's Jorge Rodriguez.

Who are the officials for the Columbus Crew vs CF Monterrey CONCACAF Champions Cup first leg match?

Here are the officials for the Crew-Monterrey match:

Christian Ramirez available for Columbus Crew vs CF Monterrey

Crew forward Christian Ramirez is available for Columbus for the first time since suffering an injury in the match against Charlotte FC on March 23. In the first half of the match, Ramirez went down with a thigh injury.

Starting up training with the Crew last week, Ramirez is listed as a bench option against Monterrey.

Who is starting for CF Monterrey in CONCACAF Champions Cup match vs Columbus Crew?

Here is the starting 11 for Monterrey vs the Crew in the first leg:

Who is starting for Columbus Crew in CONCACAF Champions Cup match vs CF Monterrey?

Here is the starting 11 for the Crew vs Monterrey in the first leg:

In Schulte's rookie season with the Crew, he struggled with penalty kicks, allowing all four of the attempts he was met with during regulation score, but his track record changed in the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals. On April 9, Columbus and Tigres finished regulation in their second-leg matchup tied, forcing a shootout to decide the series winner.

With the 2023 season far from his mind, Schulte told teammate Evan Bush he was going to save three of Tigres' penalty kicks, setting a target number just like his youth soccer coach did for him years ago. Schulte would finish with two saved penalties, but that's all the Crew would need to advance to their first Champions Cup semifinals 4-3 in penalty kicks.

"I've been there before and I have a bunch of confidence in myself," Schulte said. "That's just my mindset going into it was, I knew I was going to stop a couple. ... There wasn't any worry, it was more so just quieting the crowd and celebrating and moving on."

Read more about Schulte's mentality during the Crew's penalty shootout against Tigres in the quarterfinals here.

Did Columbus Crew make any moves before MLS transfer window closed?

The MLS primary transfer window closed on Tuesday, and the second transfer window does not open until July 18.

Since the start of the MLS regular season, the Crew have only made one move. On Friday, Columbus announced a trade with Real Salt Lake. Sending defender Philip Quinton to Salt Lake, the Crew will receive up to $200,000 in general allocation money, with $150,000 guaranteed and the other $50,000 based on if performance incentives are met.

When is the Columbus Crew vs CF Monterrey CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals match?

The first leg of the semifinals series between Columbus Crew vs CF Monterrey will take place at Lower.com Field at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday.

The second leg will take place at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey at 10:15 p.m. May 1.

Columbus Crew injuries: Who is unavailable for Columbus Crew vs CF Monterrey?

The Crew's injury report is currently "to be determined." Here's who is projected to be unavailable or questionable:

Who leads scoring in the CONCACAF Champions Cup for Columbus Crew and CF Monterrey?

Diego Rossi has recorded the most goals for the Crew in Champions Cup with two goals in two series.

Bradon Vazquez, who played for CF Cincinnati before signing with Monterrey following the 2023 MLS season, leads his team in goals with four across three series.

The match will be on FS1. Streaming is available via the Fox Sports app. The Spanish broadcast will be on ViX.

How to listen to Columbus Crew vs CF Monterrey CONCACAF Champions Cup match radio broadcast

The broadcast of the match will be available on 105.7 FM with Chris Doran on the radio call. The Spanish radio broadcast will be available via 102.5 FM La Grande.

The Crew have faced Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions Cup once, back in 2021. Darlington Nagbe, Alex Matan and Evan Bush were the only active Columbus players from that series still with the team. Aidan Morris was with the team, but was out with a season-ending ACL injury.

In the series, Monterrey and Columbus walked away from the first leg at the Historic Crew Stadium tied 2-2. Once the teams met in Monterrey for the second leg, the home team scored 3 goals compared to the Crew's none to knock them out of the tournament.

How did Columbus Crew make it to the semifinals?

After receiving a bye into the Round of 16 due to being MLS Cup champions, the Crew started their CONCACAF Champions Cup journey against Houston Dynamo.

With the first leg taking place on the road March 6, Columbus took a 1-0 aggerate goal advantage when forward Alex Matan scored a last-second goal toward the end of the match. Matan has been sidelined with a thigh injury since that game.

The Crew returned to Lower.com Field on March 12 for the second leg and took an early 1-0 lead over Houston in their second leg match off a Hernandez goal. Holding onto the lead for most of the match, Columbus would allow the Dynamo to score a penalty kick goal to tie the match 1-1, but still advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-1 on aggregate.

In the first leg of the semifinals, the Crew faced off against Tigres at Lower.com Field on April 3, but before the match could kickoff, the teams had to wait out a two-hour rain delay. Without star striker Cucho Hernandez for the second match in a row, the Crew relied on attacker Diego Rossi to lead Columbus to a 1-1 tie with his first goal of 2024.

At Estadio Universitario in Mexico for the second leg on April 9, the Crew had to score at least one goal to avoid elimination. It was Rossi once again who scored for Columbus, but with striker Andre-Pierre Gignac scoring for Tigres with his second goal of the series as well, the teams finished regulation tied 1-1.

Since the normal tie breaker of road goals was also deadlocked at 1-1, the second leg went into two 15-minute extra time periods. After 120 overall minutes of play and the series still tied 2-2 on aggregate, Columbus and Tigres were forced to go to a penalty shootout.

Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte saved Tigres' first two penalty kicks, and with every player besides Hernandez hitting their attempts for Columbus, the club advanced to its first Champions Cup semifinals. The Crew also made tournament history by becoming the first MLS team to defeat a Liga MX team after failing to win its home leg.

How did CF Monterrey make it to the quarterfinals?

Monterrey started Champions Cup play on a tear, defeating the Comunicaciones of Guatemala 7-1 on aggregate in the opening round.

In the round of 16, Monterrey was faced with the challenge of defeating the Crew's Hell is Real rival, FC Cincinnati. After holding Cincinnati scoreless in an 1-0 first leg victory at TQL Stadium, Monterrey was led to a second leg 2-1 victory by former Cincinnati forward Brandon Vazquez to advance to the quarterfinals against Inter Miami.

Despite Miami's star forward Lionel Messi returning to action in the second leg following a hamstring injury that sidelined him for nearly a month, Monterrey defeated Miami in both legs, finishing with an 5-2 aggregate.
• 2003: Lost to Atletico Morelia 6-2 aggregate in the quarterfinals
• 2010: Lost to Toluca Futbol Club 5-4 aggregate in the quarterfinals
• 2011: Lost to Real Salt Lake 4-1 aggregate in the quarterfinals
• 2021: Lost to CF Monterrey 5-2 aggregate in the quarterfinals

Champions Cup is an annual competition run by CONCACAF, the regional governing body in soccer for North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament includes 27 teams from 10 countries.

Each round, up until the final, will include two legs (two games) and the winner will be determined by the aggregate score (the combined number of goals scored by the two teams).

The final will consist of one match, with the winner qualifying for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

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