Columbus Crew SC opened their 2017 Major League Soccer campaign with a midwest rival, the Chicago Fire. It’s a rare occasion to start your season with a rival, but hey, it works.
The first half belonged to the home team, who was dominating everything. Crew SC was getting chance after chance, in quick fashion. The Black and Gold could easily have gone up by, at most, three with the dozens of chances they had. But they couldn’t find the back of the net. The deadlock finally broke after just 17 minutes when Justin Meram provided a great ball into the Fire penalty area that found the head of Ethan Finlay.