The Columbus Crew won their fifth straight MLS match, their seventh in eight league outings, with a 3-0 victory over D.C. United at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field on Saturday afternoon. Sean Zawadzki and Anass Zaroury scored goals for the Black & Gold, followed by a D.C. own goal in the win. Here are our three takeaways from Saturday’s contest:

1.    With the victory, the Crew moved into the eighth spot in the MLS Eastern Conference. The top nine teams in each conference move on to postseason play. The Black & Gold will move on to the playoffs with a win in their final regular season match in Chicago next Saturday. They can actually qualify this Sunday if both Toronto FC and Red Bull New York either lose or draw in their contests beginning at 4:00 p.m. EDT.

2.   Zawadzky and Zaroury both scored in the first half for Columbus. Zawadzky took a long direct free kick from Dylan Chambost and converted just in front of D.C. United goalkeeper Alex Bono. Chambost recorded another primary assist in Zaroury’s goal. Chambost made a cross-field pass to Zaroury inside the top left corner of the box and Zaroury bent a shot just inside the right post. 

3.  The match Saturday marked the final regular season contest for goalkeeper Evan Bush, who announced Thursday that he will retire following the Club’s 2026 campaign. The 15-year MLS veteran joined the Crew after tenures with the CF Montreal (2012-2020) and Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2020). The team wore T-shirts Saturday acknowledging Bush’s retirement. Zawadzki described surprising his teammate, “Yeah, it was great. He had no idea. We walk in the locker room, and he saw it all, and he’s like, ‘We want to know who did them.’ We still wouldn’t tell him.”