A combination of sloppy passing and lackluster attacking saw Columbus Crew SC’s unbeaten streak broken. Table-topping Atlanta United FC defeated the home team 2-0 in front of a typically poor midweek crowd at MAPFRE Stadium.
Josef Martinez opened the scoring for Atlanta as Crew SC ‘keeper Zack Steffen finally allowed his goal to be breached after over 525 minutes of goalless activity.
Crew SC mounted a challenge to get back into the game during the second half, but uncharacteristic giveaways and an abnormally slow pace allowed Atlanta to keep the attacking threat of Columbus under control. Although, Gyasi Zardes will be left ruing his missed opportunity in the 75th minute, when he just missed a potential tap-in.
Atlanta ended the game as a contest in the 82nd minute, when substitute Hector Villalba finished off a counter-attack by firing the ball across and beyond Zack Steffen to give the current supporter shield leaders all three points.
Matt Ellis is a freelance photographer who covers bands that visit the city and the Columbus Crew MLS team. More about Matt can be found at Matt Ellis Photography.