Bradley Wright-Phillips gave Columbus Crew a 1-0 lead late in the second half, but back-to-back goals from Xavier Arreaga and Will Bruin helped Seattle snatch a 2-1 road victory on Saturday night at Lower.com Field.
Wright-Phillps had the Crew in the driver’s seat after opening his Crew account in the 77th minute, but Arreaga and Bruin scored in a wild two-minute span right before second-half stoppage time, allowing the Sounders to take all three points.
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Seattle had their chances in the first half, perhaps most notably off a header from Yeimar Gomez Andrade set up by a Joao Paulo free kick that forced Columbus goalkeeper Eloy Room into a reaction save.
Raul Ruidiaz and Fredy Montero each also had looks for Seattle in opening half-hour, but Ruidiaz saw his 13th-minute laser shot go just high, while Montero saw a look from distance saved again by a sprawling room.
Columbus had perhaps their best chance of the first half in the 34th minute off a free kick from Lucas Zelarayan that was met with a whipped header from Jonathan Mensah that the center back put high of the target.
Wright-Phillips would find Columbus’ breakthrough in the 77th minute after entering the match as a second-half substitute. The longtime New York Red Bulls star slotted home a point-blank finish after a Zelarayan corner kick was headed down in front of goal, giving the hosts the tally that would stand as the game-winning strike.
That looked like it would be enough to give the hosts the victory, but the Sounders would strike back with a pair of late tallies, first from an unlikely source in Arreaga. The center back got his foot to a cross from Jimmy Medranda for a close-range finish to tie it at 1-1.
Bruin then found a huge game-winner slotting him his first goal of the season with a clinical finish from inside the area just one minute later for the decisive tally.
Columbus returns home next Friday for the ‘Hell is Real’ rivalry match vs. FC Cincinnati. Kickoff on Friday is slated for 6:30 p.m. ET at Lower.com Field.
