Crew beat Dallas 2-0; Urhoghide plays full 90 as home streak ends
Gonzalo Tapia and Santiago Rodríguez scored at Toyota Stadium. Nigeria centre-back Osaze Urhoghide started for FC Dallas. Columbus move into the final Eastern Conference playoff place with two games left.
By Emily · 29 Oct 2026, 08:20 WAT
Columbus Crew beat FC Dallas 2-0 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco on Wednesday 28 October, Nigerian time into Thursday morning, and moved into the final Eastern Conference playoff place with two Major League Soccer regular-season games left.
Gonzalo Tapia opened the scoring in the 18th minute from an Anass Zaroury assist. Santiago Rodríguez added the second in the 70th minute. The result ended Dallas's club-record-tying run of four straight home shutouts and a 168-day unbeaten streak at Toyota Stadium that had stood since a home loss to Vancouver Whitecaps on 13 May, FC Dallas said in its match notes.
For Nigerian readers the lineup detail matters as much as the scoreline. Centre-back Osaze Urhoghide, the Nigeria defender who joined Dallas after spells in Europe, started and completed the full 90 minutes in a Dallas back line that also included Shaquell Moore. Dallas finished with 54 points from 15 wins, eight defeats and nine draws; Columbus moved to 41 points from 12 wins, 15 defeats and five draws, enough on the night to occupy the last Eastern playoff berth with two matches remaining, according to the clubs' published records and AP News.
Anderson Julio returned for Dallas in the 76th minute for his first appearance since 5 August. Head coach Eric Quill's side had already clinched an Audi MLS Cup Playoffs place on 14 October and remain among the Western Conference's stronger teams on points, but this was a first home reverse in more than five months in front of a sellout of 10,925 — the club's 50th consecutive regular-season sellout — while Toyota Stadium's west side is under renovation.
Kick-off was on Wednesday evening local time in Texas. That is early Thursday morning in West Africa Time. Dallas next visit Sporting Kansas City on Saturday 31 October (Halloween night), with kick-off listed at 14:00 Central Time — 20:00 WAT — on Apple TV, the club said. Columbus take the three points and the Eastern Conference place into the final fortnight of the regular season, which ends on Saturday 7 November.
The Pioneer Cup clash does not rewrite Dallas's season, but it does put a Nigerian starter at the centre of a result that snapped a long home run and handed Columbus a clear playoff foothold. That is the angle TuSport is tracking from Frisco — Urhoghide's full shift in a 2-0 home defeat, not only the Eastern table graphic.
Sources: www.fcdallas.com · apnews.com · www.plaibook.live
