Patrick Schulte made four saves for his second consecutive shutout and Dylan Chambost had two assists when the streaking Columbus Crew moved closer to a playoff berth with a 3-0 win over visiting D.C. United on Saturday afternoon.
The Crew (13-15-5, 44 points), last in the 15-team Eastern Conference on Sept. 1, have won five straight and six of seven and can clinch a spot in the postseason on Sunday if Toronto FC fails to win at Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls don’t win at Nashville SC.
Columbus moved from ninth, the final playoff spot, one point past Orlando SC to eighth after Orlando lost 4-0 at Charlotte FC on Saturday. The Crew are two points behind seventh-place FC Cincinnati with one match left for each.
D.C. United (7-14-12, 33 points) have lost five in a row.
Sean Zawadzki made it 1-0 in the 16th minute with his first goal of the season and Anass Zaroury doubled the count in the 41st before an own goal by Kimito Nono in the 60th.
The Crew went ahead when Chambost curled a free kick toward the middle of the box for the unmarked header by Zawadzki.
Columbus was fortunate to maintain the lead after D.C. was awarded a penalty for a handball by Sekou Bangoura.
With the injury absences of Tai Baribo (16 goals, one assist) and Louis Munteanu (six goals, four assists), who combined to go 6 for 6 from the spot, the task was given to Keisuke Kurokawa in the 24th minute. He put his attempt wide of the right post.
The Crew was then clinical in their next chance and built a two-goal advantage on the strike by Zaroury.
The Crew was playing keep-away on the right side when Chambost pinged the ball to Zaroury at the top left corner of the box for a line drive to the far netting.
Chambost, the current MLS Player of the Week for his three-assist effort vs. Toronto FC on Oct. 24, has a team-high nine assists.
The third score came on the transition when Gonzalo Tapia crossed to Santi Rodriguez in the middle of the box. Alex Bono, making his second start of the season, charged out to make a save but the rebound deflected off Nono.
–Field Level Media
