Columbus Crew SC were definitely the underdog when they traveled to the South to face Atlanta United in the Knockout Round of the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs. That didn't matter, as they escaped Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a win after a wild 120 minutes and a penalty-kick shootout.

Crew SC goalkeeper Zack Steffen made eight saves during the first 120 minutes, some of the spectacular variety, and he came up with two huge saves in the shootout against Julian Gressel and Leandro Gonzalez Pirez.

Atlanta 'keeper Brad Guzan made a few big saves of his own, including one on Pedro Santos in the first half. Michael Parkhurst cleared a Harrison Afful header off the line in the 118th minute to ensure the match went to a penalty shootout.

Crew SC will now advance to face New York City FC in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Penalty-Kick Shootout

ATL : Julian Gressel - SAVE

: Julian Gressel - SAVE CLB: Federico Higuain - GOAL

Federico Higuain - GOAL ATL : Leandro Gonzalez Pirez - SAVE

: Leandro Gonzalez Pirez - SAVE CLB: Kekuta Manneh - SAVE

Kekuta Manneh - SAVE ATL : Hector Villalba - GOAL

: Hector Villalba - GOAL CLB: Niko Hansen - GOAL

Niko Hansen - GOAL ATL: Jeff Larentowicz - POST

Jeff Larentowicz - POST CLB: Adam Jahn - GOAL

Three Things

WILD, SCORELESS 120: Some might tell you that scoreless draws are boring. That was certainly not the case on Thursday as Atlanta and Columbus combined for a wild 120 minutes. The teams took 41 shots combined, with both Steffen and Guzan standing on their heads, and multiple shots hitting the woodwork. The combined 4.32 expected goals (ATL 2.27, CLB 2.05) through 90 minutes are the most in a scoreless @MLS game in our data set (since 2012). — Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) October 27, 2017 CONTROVERSIAL CALL: A minute after Justin Meram nearly snagged the lead, the Iraqi international threaded a through ball to Santos in the 40th minute on a play that eventually ended with Ola Kamara putting the ball in the back of the net. But the play was whistled dead following a controversial offside flag by the assistant referee. Replays showed Santos may not have been in an offside position. ATL GOES DOWN: Many expected ATLUTD to challenge Toronto FC for the Eastern Conference slot in MLS Cup. Despite getting a home match to start their Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs run, the Five Stripes' high-powered attack was unable to breakthrough a staunch Crew SC defense. They will go into the offseason with this heartbreaking defeat on their minds.

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