Columbus Crew stun FC Cincinnati in OT to reach MLS Cup final

Christian Ramirez scored in the 115th minute and the Columbus Crew rallied from two goals down to beat top-seeded FC Cincinnati 3-2 on Saturday night to advance to the MLS Cup final.

Columbus (17-9-9), which has won two Cups in three previous trips to the final, will host next Saturday's championship match against the winner of the Western Conference final between defending-champion Los Angeles FC and the Houston Dynamo.

It was the second-seeded Crew's ninth conference final, second only to the 13 of the Los Angeles Galaxy. It was the first time in league history that in-state rivals played for a conference title.

Brandon Vazquez scored in the 14th minute with an assist from Aaron Boupendza to give Cincinnati (20-6-9) the lead. League MVP Luciano Acosta took a pass from Alvaro Barreal and scored in the third minute of stoppage time to give the Supporters' Shield winners a 2-0 lead at halftime in Cincinnati.

Cincinnati appeared to take a 3-0 lead in the 69th minute, but a hand-ball foul on Aaron Boupendza erased the goal. Six minutes later the Crew pulled within 2-1 on an own-goal by Cincinnati defender Alvas Powell.

Diego Rossi netted the equalizer for Columbus when he scored unassisted in the 86th minute. Rossi scored 10 minutes into the second half of two 15-minute OT periods. Cucho Hernandez and Kevin Molino picked up assists on Ramirez's winner.

Patrick Schulte finished with five saves for the Crew. Roman Celentano stopped five shots for Cincinnati.

Cincinnati played without Matt Miazga, who was voted the league's top defender this season. Miazga began serving a three-match suspension handed out by the league on Wednesday and carrying over to the 2024 season. Miazga was suspended for misconduct after an 8-7 shootout win over the New York Red Bulls in a Nov. 4 playoff match.

Columbus is 7-2-4 all time against its rival in a series known as the Hell is Real Derby. Cincinnati has gone 2-1-3 in its last six home matchups with Columbus. The Crew's only previous win in Cincinnati was a 3-1 victory in August of 2019 in the first meeting.

Wilfried Nancy is the sixth different head manager to take the Crew to a conference final — a league record.

Hernandez had a three-match scoring streak on the road come to an end. He was trying to join CF Montreal's Ignacio Piatti (2016) as the only players to score in three straight playoff matches away from home

LAFC 2, Houston 0

Ryan Hollingshead scored late in the first half and defending champion Los Angeles FC advanced to its second straight MLS Cup Final with a 2-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo.

Houston's Franco Escobar scored an own goal in the 80th minute to seal the Western Conference Final for LAFC, which will travel to Columbus next weekend to play for the title.

LAFC, an expansion club in its sixth year of competition, could become MLS' first back-to-back champions since the LA Galaxy (2011-12).

Maxime Crepeau made five saves in his third consecutive shutout for LAFC, which hasn't allowed a goal since October. A defense led by Giorgio Chiellini and Diego Palacios frustrated the Dynamo, whose nine-game winning streak ended just shy of the franchise's first MLS Cup Final since 2012.

LAFC stood strong in its 52nd match of 2023 — an MLS record for games played in a calendar year, thanks to the club's competition in several non-league tournaments.

The Black and Gold still reached the brink of a second straight title despite the heavy workload and despite losing several key players from last season's championship team, including high-scoring Chicho Arango and the retired Gareth Bale.

The Los Angeles crowd gave a standing ovation to Carlo Vela when he came off in the second half of what might be his final match at BMO Stadium. The club's first player is out of contract this winter and isn't sure whether he will return.

The match also could have been the last at home for Chiellini. The Italian great who joined LAFC from Juventus 18 months ago is thought to be considering retirement at 39.

Vela nearly put LAFC ahead twice in the first four minutes before the smoke had cleared from the sold-out BMO Stadium from the pregame fireworks display. But he hit the crossbar on a point-blank chance in the middle of the box, and he was offside on a goal moments later.

LAFC finally broke through in the 44th minute when Chiellini's low header from Vela's corner was saved by Steve Clark, but Hollingshead banged home the rebound for his fifth MLS goal of the season.

Houston hadn't even trailed during its nine-match unbeaten streak since Sept. 23.

LAFC had several nervy moments on defense in the second half, but stayed strong in front of Crepeau, the Canadian goalkeeper who has made a strong late-season comeback after breaking his leg in last year's MLS Cup Final and not returning until late July.

LAFC finally scored again when Denis Bouanga put a ball through to Diego Palacios and his centering pass was kicked into the net by a sliding Escobar, who played 19 games for LAFC last season. Escobar hung his head in his hands while his teammates attempted to boost his spirits after the crushing mistake.