Rivals FC Cincinnati, Crew fighting for second spot in East

FC Cincinnati need one point to clinch a playoff spot on Saturday, but the bigger objective is taking all three points from the visiting Columbus Crew to put distance between themselves and their "Hell Is Real" derby rival.

Cincinnati (16-8-3, 51 points), second in the Eastern Conference to Inter Miami, holds a slim lead over the third-place Crew (14-5-7, 49 points), who have played one fewer match.

"It's a great challenge at this moment with where we're at in the season and what's at stake," FC Cincinnati coach Pat Noonan said. "We get a very strong opponent in good form and I know our guys are looking forward to the challenge."

The Crew can secure a postseason berth with a victory, as well, but would need help from others if they tie.

"It's an opportunity to compete against one of the best teams in the conference and to be able to jump them and to put ourselves in the best position come playoff time," Crew midfielder Sean Zawadzki said.

More accurately, it's part-time goalkeeper Sean Zawadzki. He was forced to play in goal in the last match when fourth-string keeper Abraham Romero was red-carded just before the half last Saturday.

The Crew did not have a backup because MLS refused a hardship request to call up a keeper from their academy, even though Patrick Schulte and Nico Hagen were on international duty and Evan Bush was injured. Hagen and Schulte will be available Saturday.

The match became a farce when Seattle did all its scoring on Zawadzki in a 4-0 victory. Cincinnati has not played since a 4-1 win over CF Montreal on Aug. 31.

Both the Crew and FC Cincinnati have gotten licks in on their rival recently. The Crew overcame a two-goal deficit in the 75th minute to register a 3-2 road win in the Eastern Conference final in December and a week later won the MLS Cup.

Cincinnati won 2-1 in Columbus on May 11.

"Losing at home to a rival is less than ideal," Zawadzki said. "So now it's our opportunity to go there and to put in a good performance and show what we're capable of doing."

--Field Level Media