New York City FC Goals: Tajouri-Shradi 18'
Columbus Crew Goals: Zelarayán 82' 90+5'
Quick Read
New York City FC's run of unbeaten games came to an end via a 2-1 defeat to Columbus Crew on Saturday night. The hosts took the lead thanks to Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, but two goals, both via free-kicks, from Lucas Zelarayán gave Caleb Porter's side the win.
New York City FC ended their unbeaten run with a disappointing 2-1 result against The Columbus Crew on Saturday evening at Red Bull Arena.
City were keen to maintain an unbeaten run that stretched four games, while their hosts were hoping to secure a second win of the season. The Boys in Blue started the game well and sought to frustrate The Crew with a compact shape when out of possession.
The opening exchanges were cagey, but in the 16th minute, a flowing move from back to front finished at the edge of the box with Keaton Parks – his shot blocked. Ronny Deila’s men were starting to ramp up the pressure, and it told in the 18th minute with the game's opening goal.
Quick thinking after a turnover on halfway allowed Parks to play Taty Castellanos in on goal down the left-hand side. After seeing his initial shot blocked, Castellanos remained calm and laid it back to the edge of the box for Ismael-Tajouri Shradi to confidently stroke past Eloy Room.
It could easily have been two just minutes after Castellanos again found a teammate free in the penalty area from the left-hand side – this time Jesus Medina the recipient. The Paraguayan managed to fire off a shot, but was denied by a fantastic Eloy Room save.
Columbus were still proving a threat on the counter-attack, but were struggling to turn any of those opportunities into meaningful chances It was the hosts that looked more likely to get the game’s next goal, and in the 35th minute Tajouri-Shradi found space down the right before cutting the ball back to the penalty spot.
Ready and waiting was Castellanos, but his effort flew just wide. In response, Pedro Santos unleashed a ferocious effort from just outside the penalty box that whistled past Sean Johnson’s right post.
The second period began with more chances for NYCFC as they made the most of turnovers from Columbus.
The Crew thought they had an equalizer in the 51st minute when a Luis Diaz cross found Jonathan Mensah along at the back post. The defender converted, but his celebrations were short-lived thanks to an offside flag. Tajouri-Shradi was on the hunt for a second, and in the 58th minute, he had a good chance to do just that after Gudi Thorarinsson cut the ball back to him inside the penalty box.
In the 66th minute, Darlington Nagbe wriggled away from NYCFC pressure and curled an effort over Johnson’s goal. NYCFC turned to their bench not long after that to introduce Maxi Moralez in place of Tajouri-Shradi.
In the 82nd minute, The Crew restored parity thanks to a blistering free-kick by Lucas Zelarayán.
Still desperate to secure three points, Ronny Deila made a triple substitution in the 87th minute that saw Malte Amundsen, Chris Gloster, and Tony Rocha come in for Thorarinsson, Jasson, and Parks.
With both sides pushing for a winner, Columbus earned a fantastic chance to snatch all three points in injury time when Sebastien Ibeagha tripped Gyasi Zardes.
Zelarayán – now standing closer than his first effort – stepped up and clipped the ball over the wall and past Johnson to hand Columbus all three points.
That gave Columbus all three points and saw NYCFC collect their first loss since the opening weekend of the season against D.C. United.
Heineken Man of the Match
How We Lined Up
​What's Next
Next up for New York City FC is a meeting with LAFC at the Banc of California Stadium on Saturday, May 29 taking place at 5:00 PM ET (UniMas/NYCFC.com/Radio).
