Bridgeview, Illinois (August 23, 2018) — For the second time in his now two-year career, Niko Hansen played the super sub role to perfection.
The 23-year-old wide player scored a goal in the 87th minute that equalized things for Columbus Crew SC against the Chicago Fire. His first goal of the season enabled the Black and Gold to share the spoils with their archrival.
Hansen did the same thing against the Portland Timbers on March 25 of last year. After coming on an hour into the game, he broke a 2-2 tie in the 84th minute, giving Crew SC a modicum of revenge after losing MLS Cup at home to the Timbers in 2015.
NIKOOOOO!
Calm, 🆒, and collected to level 😎#CrewSC | #CHIvCLB | 1-1 pic.twitter.com/GbTZZvRr8r
— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) August 24, 2018
Niko Hansen’s Late Goal Helps Columbus Crew SC Share Spoils Against Chicago Fire
His late tally came exactly 20 minutes after Nemanja Nikolic put Chicago up 1-0. The Hungarian striker took advantage of a shockingly bad back pass from left back Milton Valenzuela. The ball came right to Nikolic and, after a few dribbles, he made no mistake slotting it past Zack Steffen.
Columbus manager Gregg Berhalter’s second-half adjustments paid off. He initially deployed Artur as a number 10 while leaving regular starter Federico Higuain on the bench. But in the 57th minute, he brought Higuain on for Ricardo Clark while withdrawing Artur back into his regular box-to-box role.
In addition, Berhalter subbed forward Patrick Mullins into the game for Gaston Sauro in the 81st minute. Six minutes later, it was his deflected shot that Hansen collected and finished. Two weeks earlier, Mullins’ presence as a second-half sub opened up space for Gyasi Zardes which he exploited with a late game-winning goal against the Houston Dynamo.
Thursday’s game didn’t really affect Crew SC’s position in the Eastern Conference standings. They came into the contest six points clear of the fifth-placed Philadelphia Union and nine behind New York City FC for third in the East. But getting a result on the road is always a positive.
Columbus now has some added rest days before their next match. The Black and Gold return to MAPFRE Stadium and welcome New York City FC on Saturday, September 1. Proceedings get underway at 8 p.m. ET with YES providing national television coverage.
