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Second-half goals by Cucho Hernandez and Andrés Herrera lifted defending champion Columbus to a 2-0 win over Toronto FC in MLS play Wednesday.
Toronto had more of the attack in a scoreless first half, but it took Hernandez just six minutes to show his quality after coming on to start the second half.
Canadian Jacen Russell-Rowe set up the goal, staving off defender Richie Laryea to feed the 25-year-old Colombian star. Hernandez paused, took a look to see where goalkeeper Sean Johnson was and curled a shot past the diving ‘keeper from the edge of the penalty box for his 14th goal of the season.
The goal, before an announced crowd of 21,355 at BMO Field, snapped a 231-minute drought for Columbus.
Herrera, on loan from Argentina’s River Plate, padded the lead in the 70th minute, winning a battle with Raoul Petretta in the Toronto penalty box before slotting a low shot past Johnson for his first MLS goal. Toronto argued that the Argentine wingback had fouled Petretta in getting the ball, but referee Guido Gonzales Jr. was unmoved.
Columbus (15-5-8) arrived in third place in the Eastern Conference, five places and 14 points ahead of Toronto (11-16-3). A playoff position already clinched, the Crew were hoping to leapfrog Cincinnati into second spot.
Coming off a 2-0 weekend win over visiting Austin FC, Toronto had won four of six league outings (4-2-0) since losing 4-0 to Columbus on July 6 at Lower.com Field. The Crew were 3-2-2 and had failed to score in their last two outings (a 4-0 loss to visiting Seattle and 0-0 draw at rival FC Cincinnati).
Toronto is looking to move up the table past seventh-place Charlotte to avoid the wild-card playoff that pits No. 8 against No. 9, with the winner taking on the top seed in the conference (currently Inter Miami).
Two key players exited early on the night, however.
Toronto captain Jonathan Osorio, who required treatment on his left thigh late in the first half, was replaced by Tyrese Spicer at halftime. And Italian star Lorenzo Insigne limped off in the 69th minute.
Federico Bernardeschi came close to putting Toronto ahead in the seventh minute, taking a fine pass from Alonso Coello and cutting into the penalty box only to see his powerful left-footed shot hit the crossbar with goalkeeper Patrick Schulte beaten.
Schulte made a fine foot save to deny Insigne from close range in the 22nd minute off a Bernardeschi feed on a TFC counter-attack.
Columbus’ first shot on goal — right at Johnson — came from Herrera in the 35th minute.
Hernandez, the 2023 MLS Cup MVP, came on to start the second half in place of Uruguayan forward Diego Rossi.
A scrambling Johnson made an acrobatic one-handed save to stop a deflected Hernandez cross in the 57th minute. Five minutes later, Derrick Etienne Jr.’s shot nicked a Columbus defender and squibbed off-target.
Hernandez had a chance at a second goal in the 89th minute but a sliding Sigurd Rosted got a foot to the ball.
Toronto midfielder Brandon Servania came on in the 82nd minute, his first MLS action since undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in October 2023.
Toronto was thin in defence, with Nicksoen Gomis, Henry Wingo, and Kevin Long out with hamstring injuries and Shane O’Neill suspended for yellow-card accumulation. Rosted and Etienne came in for Gomis and Wingo.
Toronto fielded a back three of Petretta, Rosted and Laryea.
Rossi was the only one of Columbus’ three designated players in the starting 11 with captain Darlington Nagbe and Hernandez on the bench to start as coach Wilfried Nancy looked to deal with a congested schedule.
Russell-Rowe started up front for Columbus. The 22-year-old from Brampton, Ont., who spent seven years with the Toronto academy, had two assists in June 2022 at BMO Field in his first MLS start to help the Crew defeat Toronto 2-1.
Columbus came into the game with the league’s stingiest defence, conceding 1.04 goals a game.
Toronto has conceded 53 goals, 25 more than Columbus, which has collected more points (8-3-4, 28 points) on the road in league play this season than Toronto had at home (7-8-0, 21 points).
The Columbus game was the first of four in an 11-day stretch that will see TFC visit Colorado on Saturday, Vancouver on Sept. 25 in the Canadian Championship final and Chicago on Sept. 28. Toronto will then close out the regular season at home to the New York Red Bulls on Oct. 2 and Inter Miami on Oct. 5.
