Crew top East leader Philadelphia 1-0

Sunday, June 29,2025
By Kevin Rouch
krouch@cbussports.com

CBJ Mohamed Farsi with crowd

Mohamed Farsi celebrates his goal with Columbus Crew supporters. It was the only score in the match with Philadelphia Sunday at Lower.com Field. Photo courtesy of the Columbus Crew

The Columbus Crew came into Sunday’s home match with the Philadelphia Union knowing that a win against the Eastern Conference leaders would do a lot to tighten the standings. It would also maintain their winning momentum headed into a three-match road trip to begin the month of July.

The Crew were without their top two goalkeepers, Patrick Schulte and Nick Hagens, because of injuries. Malte Amundsen and Rudy Camacho also missed the match with injuries, while Max Arfsten was playing simultaneously in Minneapolis, Minn. with the U.S. Men’s National Team in a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal against Costa Rica.

Sunday’s match at Lower.com Field would see only one goal, a Mohamed Farsi score at the 45’+1′ mark at the end of the first half. Two great passes led to the goal. From midfield, Amar Sejdić found Lassie Lappalainen running up the left sideline. Lappalainen then sent it to Farsi streaking to the net who kicked it past Philadelphia keeper Andre Blake.

“Really, really good goal,” said head coach Wilfried Nancy after the match. “Try to play a bit with the opposition, recognize the opening and good timing between the ball carrier and the guy with the ball. Good timing, also, we were not too far wing back to wing back. What I like is Mo had good timing to arrive inside the box.”

The second half of the match was delayed for almost an hour because of a passing thunderstorm. Neither team would get on the scoreboard in the last 45 minutes in a match marked by its physical play. The Union finished the contest with 17 fouls and six yellow cards, the Black & Gold with 16 fouls and two yellows.

“You know how they play,” noted midfielder Sean Zawadzki about the physicality of the match. “They make everything really difficult, and you saw that tonight, but I think we showed resiliency, and we fought back, and I think that’s going to do the most important thing to get the result.”

The 1-0 victory was the Crew’s third straight. It halted Philadelphia’s 11-game winning streak, a club record. The Union remain in first place in the MLS’s Eastern Conference with 40 points. Columbus is now only three points behind in the fourth slot. Cincinnati is second (39), followed by Nashville (38).

NEXT UP:

@Seattle (7/6, 5:00p)
@Cincinnati (7/12, 7:30p)
@Nashville (7/16, 8:30p)

CREW NOTES:

  • The Crew’s Max Arfsten had an outstanding performance with the U.S. Men’s National Team in their win Sunday over Costa Rica in a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal, recording a goal and an assist in the team’s penalty kick shootout victory. Arfsten became the first player to score and assist in a GoldCup knockout match for the USMNT since Clint Dempsey in 2017.
  • On June 29 in 2019, late Crew head coach Sigi Schmid was inducted into the team’s Circle of Honor.