COLUMBUS — For much of this season, the Columbus Crew have looked like a team searching for answers.
They may finally be finding them at exactly the right time.
Columbus followed a 2-0 win at Montréal with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Inter Miami on Sunday, giving the Crew consecutive MLS wins for only the second time this season. More importantly, both performances looked like the kind of complete efforts that had been missing too often throughout the year.
Against Montréal, the Crew controlled the match and received second-half goals from Mohamed Farsi and Brais Méndez. Against Miami, Columbus responded after Lionel Messi tied the match with a first-half free kick and kept pushing until Jamal Thiaré scored the winner deep into stoppage time.
That was big because the Crew have spent most of the season showing flashes without consistently turning them into results.
The talent has never been the biggest question. Columbus has enough quality to create chances and enough experience to handle difficult stretches. The problem has been putting complete performances together often enough to climb the table.
The last two matches suggest that may finally be changing.
Patrick Schulte said after the Miami win that the Crew know what they are capable of, but the challenge has been putting everything together “piece by piece.” That is exactly what the last two performances looked like.
The defense has been steadier. The attack has created enough chances. Different players are contributing in important moments, and the team has shown more resilience when matches become uncomfortable.
Thiaré’s winner against Miami may have been the clearest example.
Columbus had already done enough to earn a point against one of the league’s most dangerous teams. Instead of settling, the Crew kept pressing and were rewarded in the 99th minute. That kind of late push can become important for a team that does not have much room left for wasted opportunities.
The Crew sit on 29 points through 27 matches, four points behind the Eastern Conference play-in with eight games remaining. There is still work to do, and two league wins do not erase an inconsistent season.
But there is finally some evidence that Columbus is moving in the right direction.
The Crew now enter the international break with momentum before returning to MLS play Oct. 10 at Orlando City. Eleven days later, Columbus will host St. Louis CITY SC in the U.S. Open Cup Final at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field.
That creates a simple question for the final stretch.
Was this just a good week, or did the Crew finally figure something out?
If the answer is the latter, October could get interesting very quickly.
