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The Columbus Crew reached the MLS Cup final after defeating the New England Revolution 1-0 in the Eastern Conference final.
Arthur’s goal in the 59th minute was all Caleb Porter’s men needed to guarantee the victory over the Revs, courtesy of an assist from Jonathan Mensah.
New England had their best chance of the first half in the 28th minute, when Carles Gil swung a ball over Adam Buksa down the left side, allowing the Polish forward to pass through Mensah and shoot on target, only to see him stray from the goal. near post.
In the 36th minute, goalkeeper Matt Turner prevented the Columbus Crew from taking the lead after making a dive to prevent Lucas Zelarayan’s shot from reaching.
After a goalless first half, the Crew made their breakthrough just before the hour after Zelarayan sent a cross to the far post that was rejected by a cross from the Mensah area, allowing Arthur to calmly concede at home a first auction.
They continued to apply pressure and nearly doubled the lead in spectacular fashion just three minutes later with a daring long-distance attempt by Zelarayan that beat Turner but was stopped by the wood.
That near miss gave New England a lifeline as they sought the tie, but it couldn’t stop their opponents from being crowned Eastern Conference champions for 2020.
Harrison Afful and Mensah were in action from start to finish for Black and Gold, while compatriot Emmanuel Boateng was hired as a substitute for Luis Diaz in the 80th minute. Nigerian international Fanendo Adi and Youness Mokhtar of Morooco were unused substitutes.
On the other hand, Gambian forward Kekuta Manneh was not dressed for action by coach Arena.
Columbus Crew awaits the winner of Monday’s Western Conference final between Seattle Sounders FC and Minnesota United FC. The 2020 MLS Cup takes place on Saturday, December 12.
Black & Gold previously played in two MLS Cups (2008, 2015) after winning in the 2008 campaign.
