Late in a 3-2 win over Montreal on Saturday, Crew SC showed heavy legs.

It was to be expected in the final minutes of a stretch of three games in eight days. Crew SC also had done plenty of running in the early goings against the Impact, using its speed to counterattack while maintaining just under 40 percent possession.

Montreal produced chances in waves in the second half, finishing with 24 total shots, six on target. Playing on its heels for much of the final 45 minutes didn’t come as a surprise to the Crew.

“We were expecting it to be a grind,” Crew coach Gregg Berhalter said. “I think the goal seven minutes into the second half (by Ignacio Piatti) doesn’t hurt because it came against what was happening in the game. I thought we started OK in the second half but a silly giveaway (by Jonathan Mensah) and now all of a sudden it’s 2-1. It gave them a bit of life.”

Crew SC allowed a pair of second-half goals for the third time in four games, the equalizer coming in the 77th minute Montreal’s Anthony Jackson-Hamel, who continues to add to his reputation as a late-game menace. The 23-year-old has four goals in just 127 minutes this season.

Still, the Crew (6-5-1) survived its expected fatigue and produced a goal of its own in second-half stoppage time to steal three road points. Crew SC needed until July 23 of last year to reach 19 points and until Sept. 17 to get its sixth win.

A win in the final game of three in a stretch of seven, eight or nine days has been common under Berhalter, going against what one might expect from a situation in which weariness is the norm. In eight instances of a third game in a week on minimal rest, Crew SC is 4-2-2.

The club is 3-4-1 in game No. 1 and 1-5-2 in the midweek game.

“I don’t know. I mean, we talked about that also. We are aware of it. And I don’t know what it is, to be honest,” Berhalter said of Crew SC’s success in the third game of short-rest stretches. “It could be the fact that Wednesday hasn’t gone well historically for us and the guys are eager to prove otherwise and I think today was a good example of being able to use our depth.”

Crew SC experienced plenty of lineup rotation over its last three games, as only goalkeeper Zack Steffen, center back Jonathan Mensah, central midfielder Wil Trapp and midfielders Justin Meram and Federico Higuain started all three.

Meram appeared to be fine on short rest, scoring all three of his team’s goals in the win for his first MLS hat trick. Higuain’s minutes total since last Saturday – 244 minutes over three games – is considered somewhat of a surprise after a 2016 season in which he appeared in just 20 games due to injury.

With 22 games remaining, Higuain, 32, has shown to be in good health, missing just one game due to a sore ankle. He is less than 650 minutes away from reaching his 2016 total of 1,607 minutes.

Despite a weak second-half performance, Crew SC’s depth was on display in Montreal. The starting 11 included six players – Jukka Raitala, Nicolai Naess, Hector Jimenez, Artur, Kekuta Manneh and Adam Jahn – who did not start Wednesday against Toronto.

“Collectively, we get a win,” Berhalter said. “I was very happy with the guys.”

Manneh starts

Six weeks after being traded to Crew SC from Vancouver, 22-year-old Kekuta Manneh made his first start for his new team.

The appearance in the starting lineup came after several weeks in which the reason for his not playing progressed from fitness to fit to Manneh needing to show he was better than other wing options, as explained by Berhalter.

In 63 minutes, Manneh produced one shot and suffered two fouls before being removed for Niko Hansen, who delivered the game-winning assist to Meram in stoppage time.

“I thought he had a strong first half,” Berhalter said of Manneh. “In the second half it got complicated with the defending. They were overloading that wing, giving us some problems, but I really liked his first half and he showed that he can help us.”

The likely reason for Manneh’s start was an injury to midfielder Ethan Finlay, who did not make the trip after being listed as questionable with a left knee contusion.

Berhalter said Finlay suffered the injury in the Crew’s 2-1 loss to Toronto FC on Wednesday.

“He’s just gonna be out a little bit. He was out this game and maybe one more,” Berhalter said. “We have to see how he progresses through the week.”

@AEricksonCD