Matt Freese made five saves to keep his first clean sheet of the season and help New York City FC earn a gutty 0-0 draw at the Columbus Crew on Saturday night.
Freese preserved the shutout despite Columbus holding nearly 76% of the possession and leading 23-5 in total shots, helping extend an unbeaten run for NYCFC (2-1-2, 8 points) to three matches.
NYCFC lost midfielder Keaton Parks to injury before halftime.
Freese’s counterpart Evan Bush kept his first clean sheet in two years without having to make a single save, in spot duty while Patrick Schulte is away with the U.S. national team.
Columbus (2-0-3, 9 points) drew its third in a row, and played to a second consecutive 0-0 affair at home despite playing most of the match in New York’s end, as evidenced by their 10-0 advantage in corners.
Yevhen Cheberko headed over the crossbar early on one of Columbu’s few clear chances of the evening.
After that, it was Aziel Jackson who was arguably Columbus’ most consistent threat going forward.
In the 38th minute, his bending effort from outside the box struck Freese’s far post.
And after Diego Rossi fired wide from the center of the penalty box in the 53rd minute, Jackson again looked to be in promising position down the right, only to spray his shot wide of Freese’s near post in the 65th, a part of the goal the goalkeeper likely had covered.
Jacen Russell-Rowe thought he had finally given the Crew the lead in the 84th minute when he drove a finish low between Freese and the near post after a well-worked passing sequence.
But after consulting the replay monitor, referee Rubiel Vazquez judged DeJuan Jones to have been in an offside position in the buildup.
Cole Mrowka forced Freese into one final stop in the 87th minute, but from there the Crew did not seriously threaten his net in added time.
–Field Level Media
