Columbus won 3-0 on fewer chances after DC missed a penalty

Columbus Crew beat DC United 3-0 at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, and the visitors' missed penalty at 24 minutes came at the moment the game was most open.

Keisuke Kurokawa had the chance to pull DC United level at 24 minutes, two minutes after Matti Peltola had won the penalty, and he missed it. The miss came eight minutes after Sean Zawadzki had given Columbus the lead, so DC were still a goal down with the game wide open. Columbus then made their advantage count.

Dylan Chambost was involved in two of the goals, setting up Zawadzki's opener at 16 minutes and Anass Zaroury's strike at 41. He was rated 8.6 for it, and his passing was the reason the home side kept finding the final ball. A 60th-minute own goal made it 3-0, a scoreline that looks more comfortable than the match felt for long periods.

What stands out is how few clear chances Columbus needed. Expected goals, a rough measure of how good each shot was, came to 1.02 for the home side, well below the 1.46 they average at home this season. They took about their usual number of shots, so the difference lies in the quality of the chances, not the volume. Three goals from that is a strong return, against an average of 1.9 at home.

Columbus also had far more of the ball than usual. They held 61%, against a home average of 52.8%, and they completed 583 of their 638 passes. DC United's 39% was almost exactly their usual 38.8% away from home, so the visitors were not unusually short of possession. The problem for them was what they did with it.

DC had nine shots, against an average of 12.9 for away sides this season, and four of them were on target, so they still made the home goalkeeper work. Their expected goals of 1.16 was a little under their usual 1.37, and they scored none, when away sides usually score 0.9. Kye Rowles and Peglow both picked up yellow cards, and the penalty was the moment that could have changed the afternoon.

Columbus's goalkeeper, P. Schulte, made four saves, so the visitors did get shots through. Columbus's own chances were fewer than the 1.72 expected goals DC usually concede, and their defence held up better than usual, with no goals conceded against an average of 1.3 at home. It was a game in which the visitors had more of the early pressure in terms of chances than the scoreline suggests, but that was a matter of luck as much as anything.

Form points the same way. Columbus have won five of their last six matches, while DC United have won only one of their last six, and that one was at home.

Player of the matchD. Chambost2 assists8.6

P. Schulte4 saves8.4

A. Zaroury1 goal8.0

S. Zawadzki1 goal7.9