CINCINNATI — – Brenner Souza – known simply as “Brenner” – scored goals in the 67th and 86th minutes to help FC Cincinnati beat the Columbus Crew 2-1 on Saturday night and win the best-of-three series 2-1 in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs.<\/p>\n
Cincinnati plays No. 3 seed Miami or sixth-seeded Nashville in the one-game Eastern Conference semifinals.<\/p>\n
Brenner’s second goal gave Cincinnati its first lead of the game. Samuel Gidi<\/a>, on the counter-attack, tapped a short pass from near the penalty spot to the top of the 18-yard box, where Brenner took a step to his right and slipped a low shot inside the left post.<\/p>\n Andr\u00e9s Herrera ran onto a long ball-ahead played by goalkeeper Patrick Schulte<\/a> and bounced a first-touch cross to a charging Jacen Russell-Rowe<\/a> for a half-volley finish from just outside the 6-yard box that gave the seventh-seeded Crew a 1-0 lead in the 63rd minute.<\/p>\n Brenner answered four minutes later for No. 2 seed Cincinnati with a first-touch goal, after a soft header by Teenage Hadebe<\/a> off a corner kick.<\/p>\n Roman Celantano had four saves.<\/p>\n The game marked the end of Darlington Nagbe<\/a>‘s career. The 35-year-old midfielder who won four MLS Cup titles – two (2020, ’23) with the Crew – across 15 seasons, announced in October that this season, his 15th in Major League Soccer, would be his last.<\/p>\n Cincinnati opened the series with a 1-0<\/a> win before the Crew evened the series with a 4-0<\/a> victory in Game 2 with each team winning on its home field.<\/p>\n ——<\/p>\n