Rossi leads Crew past Union to Leagues Cup final

Diego Rossi scored his third brace in four matches as the host Columbus Crew defeated the Philadelphia Union 3-1 in a semifinal of the Leagues Cup on Wednesday.

Columbus advances to host the championship match on Sunday against the winner of the late Wednesday semifinal featuring the Colorado Rapids and Los Angeles FC.

Rossi scored in the 12th and 43rd minutes to sandwich a 32nd-minute goal by the Union’s Daniel Gazdag. Cucho Hernandez tapped in his own rebound in the 53rd to give Columbus a two-goal lead.

The Crew opened the scoring when Rossi made a diving header at the near post after Andre Blake made a save on a curling strike by Hernandez.

Gazdag took advantage of a giveaway to get the equalizer, but the Crew responded just before the break when Christian Ramirez chipped a pass to Rossi for the finish.