Columbus hangs on for a deserved 2-1 win in a well-played match. It’s Monterrey’s first loss in Concacaf Champions Cup or League play since March 19, 2019 (a 1-0 quarterfinal defeat to Atlanta United that ultimately didn’t matter much, as los Rayados entered that second leg with a 3-0 advantage).

Russell-Rowe’s winner feels like it has set the Crew up very well for a spot in the one-off final on June 2. However, as much as Columbus will believe they can repeat the result from their last trip to Nuevo Leon, Monterrey goes through with a 1-0 victory next Wednesday.

In other words, the Crew probably need to go to Estadio BBVA and score, on top of avoiding the sort of defensive nightmare that Miami endured in the quarterfinals.

As Nation is giving Moreno a yellow card, Cucho and Gallardo have a friendly conversation that ends with the slightest bit of a head-butt from the Mexico winger. Cucho, touched by the slightest atoms on Gallardo’s forehead, grabs his face and hits the deck.

Nation gets a call to hold play from the VAR booth, but ultimately this whole episode ends with no additional discipline.

Columbus appeared to be shifting into a 5-4-1 to seal this game off, but a simple sequence nearly spoiled everything. Canales clipped the ball beyond the Crew back line for Berterame, who skips away from Yevhen Cheberko to suddenly be in on goal, but the Argentine forward is denied by Schulte.

Andrada almost got caught off-guard by Yaw Yeboah’s shot from inside the area, only to react just in time to make the stop without coughing up a rebound.

Moments later, we get substitutions. Jordi Cortizo replaces Meza on the right wing in what is a defensive-minded change for Monterrey, while Nancy makes two additions: Malte Amundsen steps in for Yeboah at left wingback, while Alexandru Matan is on for Russell-Rowe.

Matan’s first contribution is to immediately get booked for throwing the ball away rather than allowing Monterrey to take a goal kick quickly.

Ortiz apparently isn’t content with a 2-1 first-leg loss. Forward German Berterame is coming in as Monterrey’s second substitute, replacing Vazquez.

Who cares about formations!

A Crew corner is sent to the near post for Zawadski, who hadn’t made the hard run needed to finish off the last move forward. He totally redeems himself, though, flicking this corner on perfectly for Russell-Rowe to bounce a header over Andrada and in.

Huge goal for the Crew and Russell-Rowe, who has a goal and an assist despite being arguably the least notable name on either team’s front line.

When Monterrey removed Aguirre, they also opted for a shift into a 4-3-3 formation, with Jorge Rodriguez now alone at the base of the midfield triangle. Canales and Luis Romo have been further up field to help press the Crew at new angles, and it’s causing Columbus some trouble.

Nancy has been putting together a magnetic board to show his side the new look, but he hasn’t had much of a stoppage to actually show his work.

Aguirre signaled about 10 minutes ago that he needed to come off, but the right back soldiered on long enough for Monterrey to equalize before finally taking a knee.

Victor Guzman, until recently a locked-in starter for Ortiz, enters the fray in his place. Center back Stefan Medina will shift out to the right.

Meanwhile, Meza is booked for a late tackle on Cucho near midfield.

Rayados cap off a good spell in the last five minutes to equalize. Gallardo is just quick enough to stay ahead of Zawadski this time, and his cross rolls out of Schulte’s reach, finding Maxi Meza racing in for a tap-in at the back post.

That continues Meza’s excellent Champions Cup campaign. The 31-year-old Argentine now has two goals and five assists in just six appearances in the competition.

Both managers choose to keep their starting 11s on the field, and the Crew win an early corner that comes to nothing.

Halftime arrives with Columbus holding a 1-0 lead thanks to Cucho’s 25th minute strike.

However, there have been big chances at either end, with Monterrey getting the better early looks before the Crew started to take the game over. They say styles make fights, and the combination of the Crew’s open shape and emphasis on possession and Monterrey’s potency on the counter have made for a real spectacle.

As such, the scoreline suits Columbus, but the game’s tempo might just be to Monterrey’s liking. If Vazquez or Canales get looks like the ones they’ve seen already, you’d bet the rent on a Rayados equalizer. Note that Concacaf still uses the away goals rule, meaning that a goal for Monterrey in the second half would put the Crew into a very difficult position.

Then again, Columbus is getting Cucho into space on a regular basis, and when that happens at Lower.com Field, they tend to ring up multi-goal wins. This one really, truly could go either way.

Jorge Rodriguez collides with Rossi at midfield, with the latter hitting the deck. The result? Four Rayados players cluster around Rossi to protest referee Oshane Nation’s call.

Nation eventually calmed the situation down without further discipline, but the acrimony levels are going up.

Monterrey will be wondering how they don’t have an equalizer yet. This time, Erick Aguirre’s low cross got through multiple players from both teams before finding Canales, whose attempt to steer the ball home got past Steven Moreira…beat Schulte…only to slowly roll inches wide.

The Crew get the opener, and of course it’s Cucho performing some magic to make it happen. Columbus worked the ball up the left flank before coming inside, finding their star No. 9.

Cucho played a quick give-and-go with Jacen Russell-Rowe before storming through the Monterrey defense and firing past Andrada from 17 yards. That’s exactly the kind of goal the Crew want to score under Nancy, and it’s why they paid so much money to bring Cucho to MLS.

A giveaway from Darlington Nagbe, that rarest of sights in MLS, nearly spoiled the Crew’s night. Sergio Canales squared for Vazquez, whose left-footer from 23 yards beat Schulte but thumped off the foot of the post.

So, so close to a lead for Monterrey.

The Crew, playing in Wilfried Nancy’s preferred 3-4-3, have been caught out a couple of times now by Monterrey’s counter-attacking threat. Sean Zawadski did superbly to break up a two-on-one, saving the Crew from what would have been a tap-in for Vazquez had Jesus Gallardo’s pass gotten through.

Meanwhile, los Rayados are operating out of a flexible 4-2-3-1. Columbus has started to solve it, though, with Cucho Hernández in the thick of it. First, the Colombia forward found Diego Rossi racing through the Monterrey back line only for the Uruguayan to stab his finish wide. Then, less than two minutes later, Cucho’s long-range blast required a strong save from Esteban Andrada.

It’s been an even start, but Monterrey has the game’s first chance, and it required a tremendous save from Patrick Schulte. A cross from the left found Columbus strangely passive, and los Rayados eventually teed Brandon Vazquez up for a shot from all of 10 yards.

That’s a dream scenario for Monterrey, but Schulte managed to get down and react in the nick of time.

While we wait for kickoff, we have two Monterrey-focused articles for you to check out. We spoke with club vice president Pedro Esquivel about the club’s ambitious plans to grow its popularity in the United States, and sat down with U.S. men’s national team/Rayados striker Brandon Vazquez on life in Mexico and his efforts to capture Gregg Berhalter’s attention.

Columbus Crew vs. Monterrey (Concacaf Champions Cup)

When: Wednesday, April 24
Where: Lower.com Field (Columbus, OH)
Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Channel/streaming: FS1 (Watch FREE on Fubo), TUDN

Welcome to Pro Soccer Wire‘s live coverage of the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal between the Columbus Crew and Monterrey! We are expecting a fun one from Lower.com Field in Columbus, so follow along for all the action right here.