Wessam Abou Ali scored a pair of goals in the second half, Max Arfsten added a goal and assist, and the Columbus Crew defeated host Atlanta United 3-1 for their first win of the season on Saturday.
Columbus (1-3-2, 5 points) snapped a two-match losing streak while awarding head coach Henrik Rydstrom his first victory in MLS.
Atlanta United (1-4-1, 4 points) avoided being shut out for the fourth time in six outings, but dropped its second home match of the season.
Columbus broke a scoreless deadlock in the 48th minute. Arfsten fired in a cross from the right side to Abou Ali, whose header beat an outstretched Lucas Hoyos for a 1-0 lead for his fourth goal of the season.
Abou Ali scored his second goal of the night, and team-high fifth goal of the season, in the 53rd minute. Atlanta’s defense allowed the Crew striker plenty of time to unload a well-taken shot that sailed into the upper-right corner of the net to leave Hoyos no chance at a save.
Patrick Schulte ended the evening with three saves for Columbus, his only miscue coming on a misplayed ball that Alexey Miranchuk put home in the 60th minute.
Arfsten scored his first goal of the season in the 61st minute. The United States international accepted a pass from the right side of the box from Andres Herrera and found the back of the net to make it 3-1.
For Atlanta, Hoyos stopped four of the seven shots he faced.
Since a season-high three-goal output against the Philadelphia Union on March 14, Atlanta has scored once in its past two matches. Meanwhile, Columbus’s three goals on the evening were a season high.
Atlanta will be without manager Tata Martino for its April 11 match at the Chicago Fire. He was shown a straight red card after entering the Columbus technical area in the early stages of second-half stoppage time.
–Field Level Media
