Zawadzki's stunning goal, Russell-Rowe's impressive start lift Columbus Crew to win at Toronto

With the league’s best defense in MLS Cup contender Philadelphia Union looming on Sunday back at home, a win on the road at Toronto FC on Wednesday looked like the Crew’s best chance at three points before recent designated player signing Cucho Hernandez could make his debut next weekend in Chicago.

The ingredients for their second road win of the year were all there, with star attacking player Lucas Zelarayan back in the lineup for the first time in four games and a defense feeling confident after a clean sheet.

But what the Crew (5-5-6, 21 pts.) ended up getting was a little magic from a couple of young players.

Starting again after his first career MLS start and appearance last Saturday against Real Salt Lake, 22-year-old homegrown Sean Zawadzki powerfully struck the ball with his left foot from about 23 yards out for the go-ahead lead in the 18th minute.

Then, 19-year-old forward and former Toronto FC Academy player Jacen Russell-Rowe dished his second assist of the night in his first career MLS start on a Darlington Nagbe goal at the half-hour mark of the Crew’s 2-1 win against Toronto (5-9-3, 18 pts.) at BMO Field.

"I think there's a lot to be pleased about today," Porter said. "Winning that game, that second one now on the road, those are big points."

Russell-Rowe made just two MLS appearances for a total of 34 minutes before heading back to the place he grew up and dreamed of becoming a professional player. He earned those substitution appearances by scoring 11 goals in 11 games with the Crew 2 reserve team.

It was only 6 ½ hours before his first start that the Crew officially announced they had signed the young striker.

On the first goal, Russell-Rowe got the ball on the edge of the box with his back to goal before laying it off to space in the middle for Zawadzki to run up and put his laces through the ball and soar it into the top-right corner of the net.

"If you had told me I would've scored that goal in my MLS career I would've said you're crazy," Zawadzki said on the broadcast's postgame interview.

Off of a Pedro Santos tackle in the 30th minute, Zelarayan advanced the ball 25 yards before finding Russell-Rowe on the right side of the box. The Canadian slipped the ball perfectly onto the run of Nagbe near the 6-yard box for a tidy finish past goalkeeper Alex Bono to double the lead.

Nagbe has been inconsistent in his time with the Crew in his willingness to get into the attack. Most of the time he hasn't had a true possession midfielder like himself on the field with him. But with Zawadzki in the lineup, Nagbe showed an urgency to help out in the attack.

"I told him [Darlington] before the game, I said, 'Three, four times a half you need to surge forward and get in that final third and be goal dangerous,'" Porter said. "I think he showed he is a guy that can chip in goals out of midfield."

To keep the lead, however, the Crew needed goalkeeper Eloy Room to come up with a few crucial saves. He made two saves one-on-one against former league MVP Alejandro Pozuelo and Kosi Thompson.

Toronto grabbed a goal back in the 54th minute off the head of Jesus Jimenez with an assist from Pozuelo. The pressure didn’t let up after that.

Crew midfielder Aidan Morris slipped when receiving a goal kick from Room. Toronto midfielder Michael Bradley picked up the ball and took it just inside the box for a one-on-one chance against Room but dragged his shot wide right in the 77th minute. Pozuelo narrowly missed the right post in a similar spot in the 86th minute.

But Room didn’t have to make a save in the final minutes as the Crew moved to eight points in their four-game unbeaten streak and seven points in their past three road games.

The Crew had no quality scoring chances against Real Salt Lake, with the only shots on target coming from long range. Through the youngest player on the roster, the Crew created one of the best chances they’ve had the entire season and had a young, promising player in Zawadzki pull off a special play.

With the win, the Crew completed the season sweep of Toronto, having won 2-1 at Lower.com Field on March 12.

Russell-Rowe makes statement in front of family, hometown

Russell-Rowe found out on Monday that he would be starting against Toronto on Wednesday, which meant he knew by then the Crew was going to sign him from Crew 2 because MLS Next Pro rules only allow for two call-ups before having to be signed to the MLS club.

Those two days before the game were enough time to get his mother, sister and girlfriend to the game and see him register two assists on an unforgettable night for him.

"It means everything," he said. "Without their support, who knows if I would actually be able to get through the hardships that come with being an athlete.”

Russell-Rowe started over Miguel Berry, who entered for the teenage rookie in 66th minute after experiencing some cramping in his legs. With Berry struggling this year and Russell-Rowe constantly scoring in the lower division, there was nothing to indicate from Wednesday night that he didn't deserve another start on Sunday against Philadelphia.

“This is a special moment for me," he said on the Crew's broadcast. "Being at BMO Field, from a kid, I've always dreamt of it. I’ve always dreamt of being able to play here in front of the fans.”

Porter said his confidence in starting Russell-Rowe came down to what they wanted out of the striker position. The plan was to have a player who could get behind the Toronto back line. Though he could have connected better with Zelarayan at times, Porter said Russell-Rowe did everything they asked him to do.

"We felt like he earned the right to be signed and he earned the right to start this game," Porter said. "It's really cool to see a 19-year-old kid, who has a ton of talent, get his first debut against his former club, his hometown. That's a little bit of icing on the cake. But at the end of the day it's about the team and the three points and I think he'd be the first to say that."

Why the Crew went with a 3-5-2 formation

After playing much of last season with a 4-2-3-1 despite several injuries, Porter has shown his willingness to change up formation this season, especially on the road.

Even with Zelarayan back in the lineup, Porter elected to have his top three center backs play together while keeping his midfield together in a 3-5-2 formation. This changed slightly from the 4-3-3 the Crew played last weekend at Real Salt Lake, but was able to keep Toronto's attack mostly under control.

Late in the game, Porter subbed Luis Diaz into the game for Nagbe and moved James Igbekeme to the midfield for a 4-3-3 formation to preserve the win.

Porter explained the plan was to stay tight and compact in the midfield while putting the Crew's best defenders on the field and getting Steven Moreira and Pedro Santos down the flanks. That worked better in the first half than the second, but the Crew were mostly trying to protect their lead in the second half.

"The plan was to overload their midfielders with Lucas and our three central midfielders and collapse them narrow to then find our wingbacks high," Porter said. "I think they had a really hard time figuring out how to stop the overload and, or, the wide-backs getting forward into the attack. I think it led to obviously the first two goals."

Man of the match: Sean Zawadzki, first career MLS goal in the 18th minute, completed 23-of-28 passes and had eight recoveries.

jmyers@dispatch.com

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Sean Zawadzki's first-half blast leads Crew past Toronto FC