Columbus Crew SC picked up their first win of the 2016 season with a 3-2 defeat of New York City FC, despite making the game much more difficult than it should’ve been.
Ethan Finlay opened up both the game and his personal scoring account for the season when he battered the ball into the NYC net after the games standout player Justin Meram made one of several mazy runs into the box to set up the shot for the Crew SC winger.
David Villa equalized shortly after with a well placed header after being given way too much space by the Crew SC defense that completely lost the flight of the crossed ball.
The game could’ve been dead and buried before half-time if Kei Kamara hadn’t wasted a few decent chances but the half ended at 1-1.
Kamara took just 4 minutes into the second half to finally extend the Crew SC lead with a drilled-shot into the bottom of the NYC net. Justin Meram again providing the assist.
The home team gave themselves some breathing room in the 80th minute as Justin Meram capped off a great performance with a well taken goal after Ethan Finlay had broken away down the right wing.
Crew SC should’ve been home and dry at 3-1 up with only 10 minutes to go but Tyson Wahl decided to make things a bit more exciting when his clumsy challenge in the box gave NYC a soft penalty. A confused referee decided to send off Michael Parkhurst instead and David Villa converted the resulting spot kick.
The lifeline kicked NYC up a gear and they pushed forward for the equalizer. Thankfully, for the majority of the finger-chewing MAPFRE Stadium crowd, Steve Clark came up with a three-point-saving save in stoppage time and handed Columbus it’s season-starting victory.
All photos by Matt Ellis.
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