Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy and midfielder Sean Zawadzki insisted they still have a great chance of progressing to the next stage of the MLS Cup playoffs.

The Crew lost Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference tie against FC Cincinnati 1-0, courtesy of a late goal from Kevin Denkey.

Columbus must now win Game 2 on Sunday in order to stay in the playoffs and force a deciding Game 3 back in Cincinnati.

After their narrow loss, Nancy believes the Crew will not need to change much about their mentality as the task remains the same.

"We know that we have to win [two] games. If we would have won, it would have been the same," Nancy said.

"Nothing changed because I like the personality that we had. Obviously, disappointed. The boys are really disappointed, but I told them to stay with their heads up because this is the way that we want to do it.

"After that, we have to execute a little bit better."

Zawadzki, meanwhile, believes their home fans will give the Crew a much-needed advantage in Game 2.

"It's a three-game series, and that can go either way," Zawadzki said.

"But no matter what, we're going home, and we had to win the game regardless. So, I think it's pushing the game aside.

"Obviously, we want to reflect on the good things and the bad, but using that to then look at film and figure out how can we break them even more in some instances as we look to go home, fight, and come away with the win."

Cincinnati entered the postseason in fantastic form, winning four of their final five regular-season games (D1) before their 1-0 win against Columbus.

They managed to finish second in the East, just one point behind Supporters' Shield winners, the Philadelphia Union.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Columbus Crew – Patrick Schulte

In his ninth MLS Cup playoffs appearance, the most by a Columbus goalkeeper, Patrick Schulte made five saves in Game 1, his second five-save playoff outing (both against Cincinnati).

Schulte's nine playoff games over the last four postseasons trail only Pedro Gallese and Roman Celentano (both 10) for most in that time.

FC Cincinnati – Kevin Denkey

Denkey scored the lone goal in Game 1, his 18th goal across all competitions this season.

Cincinnati have won 12 of the 17 matches in which Denkey has scored this season, with just one loss (D4).

MATCH PREDICTION – COLUMBUS CREW WIN

Columbus have lost just one of their last 10 home playoff matches (W8 D1), but their only loss in that span came to the New York Red Bulls in their last home playoff outing in 2024.

The Crew have played 30 MLS Cup playoff matches at home, but they have never lost consecutive home playoff games.

But Cincinnati will not make things easy for them. Cincinnati enter Game 2 unbeaten in their last eight road matches across all competitions (W7 D1), their longest away unbeaten run in the team's MLS era.

Game 1 between the two sides was just the third time in 18 competitive meetings since Cincinnati joined MLS that the Crew failed to score, but it was their second time being held scoreless in the last four games (also in the regular season in September 2024).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Columbus Crew – 47.6%

Draw – 26.1%

FC Cincinnati – 26.3%