Columbus beat Philadelphia to reach Leagues Cup final

MIAMI: Uruguayan Diego Rossi scored twice as Major League Soccer champions Columbus Crew reached the final of the Leagues Cup with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday. The Crew will host the winners of Wednesday´s other semi-final, between Los Angeles FC and the Colorado Rapids in Sunday´s final.

The Leagues Cup brings together the top flight clubs from MLS and Mexico´s Liga MX but no Mexican teams made the last four of the tournament, which has been held entirely in the United States.

The Crew were on top from the outset and grabbed the lead in the 12th minute when Colombian forward Cucho Hernandez cut in from the left and his low drive was parried out by Union keeper Andre Blake but straight to Rossi, whose diving header flashed home. But Columbus´s tendency to overplay at the back cost them in the 32nd minute when their defender Yevhen Cheberko was robbed on the edge of his box by Nathan Harriel and Daniel Gazdag pounced to slot home and level.

But two minutes before the interval, Columbus restored their lead with Rossi playing a smart one-two with Christian Ramirez before drilling past Blake to make it 2-1. It was the sixth goal in the Leagues Cup for Rossi, making him the tournament´s top scorer despite Columbus having received a bye for the group stage. Hernandez made sure of the win with the Crew´s third in the 53rd minute -- Steven Moreira whipped in a cross from the right which Hernandez met with a firm header and although Blake kept the effort out, the Colombian followed in to add the third.