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Columbus Crew lose another lead, tie Toronto FC: Takeaways
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- Columbus Crew lose another lead, tie Toronto FC: Takeaways
The Crew went into the final 15 minutes of regulation with a one-goal lead against Toronto FC but failed to secure a victory, recording a 1-1 tie in their road matchup on Aug. 16.
Over the past month, the Crew have struggled to maintain leads in the final 20 minutes of games. A loss to Orlando City and regulation draw against Toluca FC were matchups in which they had the upper hand.
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Columbus pulled ahead in the eighth minute against Toronto when forward Diego Rossi scored a team-leading 13th goal of the regular season.
Replay: Columbus Crew drop advantage in second half, draw vs Toronto FC
In the second half, the Crew held Toronto to one shot until a sequence in the 77th minute that began with a Toronto corner kick. Toronto took two shots following the corner before the Crew cleaned the ball out of their box, but the clearance allowed Toronto to reset and create a goal by forward Jules-Anthony Vilsaint .
"It's frustrating," Crew defender Sean Zawadzki said. "Obviously, it's a set piece. We come out, and we try and set up our line, and I think we maybe lose a runner. It's a debate (if Vilsaint was) offside, not offside, who knows. It's the way things go in this league."
The Crew had several opportunities to regain the lead, specifically during the eight minutes of second-half stoppage time in which they took four shots compared to Toronto's one. Three of those shots were on target, with two being saved by goalkeeper Sean Johnson and the final blocked by defender Kevin Long.
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While there has been a pattern of the Crew dropping leads late in games, coach Wilfried Nancy believes the Toronto result was different from the others.
Crew midfielder Daniel Gazdag shoots against Toronto on Aug. 16.
"The game was weird," Nancy said. "The pace of the game was not so high. The grass was high, so it was not easy. The game was a bit slow, I don't know, it was a weird feeling. I told the players I don't know if we did a good game or bad game. ... For me, there is no correlation between the other games. This is this game, this is totally different."
Daniel Gazdag continues to struggle to find second goal with Columbus Crew after offside call vs Toronto FC
Gazdag continues to struggle to find second goal
Two minutes after Vilsaint scored, Crew midfielder Daniel Gazdag found the back of the net with a one-touch shot off a cross pass from midfielder Max Arfsten.
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The Crew's celebration was cut short when a VAR review determined that Gazdag was offside.
Crew forward Diego Rossi reacts to an altercation with Toronto defender Raoul Petretta (28) on Aug. 16.
"For me, this is about trying to see what we could have done better," Nancy said. "Individually, Daniel knows if he did a good game or not. This is football, this is not an issue for Daniel. He'll be back to score another goal."
If the goal had held, it would have marked Gazdag's second since joining the Crew in April, with his loan goal across 18 appearances coming on a penalty kick against D.C. United on July 29.
Before being traded from the Philadelphia Union , Gazdag scored two goals across six games.
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Darlington Nagbe misses Toronto FC matchup due to torso injury
Nagbe misses game with torso injury
The Crew were without starting midfielder Darlington Nagbe , with the 35-year-old being sidelined with a torso injury.
Nancy said Nagbe suffered the injury during the Leagues Cup group-stage game against Club Leon on Aug. 5, and his timeline to return is undetermined.
"When they didn't go for the ball, they went to hurt him," Nancy said. "This is what they did. He's going to be out for a few days. We'll see when he's able to come back."
The Crew continue their final stretch of regular-season matchups against New England Revolution on Aug. 23 at Lower.com Field.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew drop lead, tie Toronto FC on the road: Takeaways
