The Columbus Crew extended their MLS winning streak to four matches — all on the road — when they rallied with three second-half goals to defeat short-handed New York City FC 3-2 on Friday.
Columbus (7-2-6, 27 points) ran its road unbeaten streak to 4-0-2 in its first match since losing 3-0 at Mexico’s CF Pachuca in the Champions Cup final on June 1.
New York City (9-6-2, 29 points) had a five-match winning streak end.
Christian Ramirez tied it 1-1 in the 48th for the Crew. Mohamed Farsi gave Columbus a 2-1 lead in the 53rd and Cucho Hernandez scored on a penalty kick in the 65th to push the advantage to 3-1. New York City FC pulled to within 3-2 on a Santiago Rodriguez goal in the 86th minute, but they couldn’t get the equalizer despite 15 minutes of stoppage time.
New York went down a man in the 39th minute when Mitja Ilenic was given a red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity by Ramirez. Five minutes later, Agustin Ojeda gave NYCFC the surprising lead after the hosts were dominated until that point.
Ojeda put New York City ahead after a heel pass by Alonso Martinez allowed him to dribble around two defenders so he could score his second goal of the season.
The Crew began the rally after halftime when Ramirez was initially ruled offside after receiving the ball in front of the goal off a deflection.
Farsi then scored off a rebound of Max Arfsten’s shot for the lead. Hernandez set up the play with a heel pass to Arfsten on the right side of the box.
Farsi was involved in the third goal as well. He went up for a header at the goal line when he was shoved to the ground by Hannes Wolf. There was no call on the field, but Farsi was awarded the penalty after a review and Hernandez buried his shot from the spot for his fifth goal.
Kickoff was delayed an hour because of inclement weather. Once the match started, it was all Crew in the early going, but they squandered numerous chances through a combination of poor finishing and the play of NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese, who finished with nine saves in the match.
Columbus goalie Patrick Schulte stopped four shots.
–Field Level Media
