[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen Justin Meram joined The Pit’s Upon Further Review podcast last week, he predicted a 2-1 outcome against Portland in Columbus’ MLS opener.
Unfortunately, Meram expected a Crew SC win instead of one for the Timbers.
Columbus Crew SC fell in an MLS Cup rematch against defending champions Portland to open the 2016 MLS season, with Federico Higuain notching the lone goal for the Black & Gold in the 68th minute.
“I thought we handled it real well,” Columbus Head Coach and Sporting Director Gregg Berhalter said. “To be honest, I felt like we had control of the match.”
And Columbus did control the match. Crew SC possessed the ball 61-percent of the time with an 84-percent mark in passing accuracy.
Higuain scored in the 68th minute after feeding the ball to Ethan Finlay. Finlay passed it back to Higuain, who used a bicycle kick to sneak the ball past Timbers GK Adam Kwarasey.
Diego Valeri struck first for Portalnd with an unassisted goal in the 23rd minute while broke the tie 11 minutes after Higuain’s goal.
Columbus will host the Philadelphia Union Saturday in the home opener at MAPFRE Stadium. Kickoff is slated for a 7:30 PM start.
