Anass Zaroury and Taha Habroune scored two minutes apart in the second half to give the host Columbus Crew a 3-1 win over Charlotte FC on Wednesday.
The Crew (9-15-5, 32 points) had a club-record 33 shot attempts, 14 on target. Kristijan Kahlina made a career-high 11 saves for Charlotte (13-9-7, 46 points), which was 9-2-4 in its previous 15 matches.
Columbus has won three of four games but is still outside a playoff spot.
Zaroury scored his first MLS goal in his fourth match with a strange half-volley in the 63rd minute to make it 2-1. He took a cross from Mo Farsi and hit a shot into the ground. The ball bounced over Kahlina, hit the underside of the bar and went in.
Habroune then stole the ball from Ashley Westwood at the top of the box and quickly fired a shot to make it 3-1, completing the comeback.
Idan Toklomati scored in the 17th minute to give Charlotte the lead before Brais Mendez equalized in the 28th.
Columbus dominated the first half, outshooting Charlotte 22-5, but Kahlina kept the match tied with eight saves.
Toklomati scored for the third time in two matches by dispossessing Cape Verde World Cup defender Steven Moreira and lacing a shot past Patrick Schulte to tie Pep Biel for the team lead with 12 goals.
Pressure also led to the Crew goal. Josef Martinez, the MLS active all-time goal leader with 131, created a giveaway in the final third and got the ball to Santi Rodriguez, who spotted an open Mendez to his right.
The former Real Sociedad player scored from 22 yards for his fifth goal in 12 matches since joining the Crew.
From there, Kahlina made a save on Habroune in the 36th, Martinez’s wicked header barely missed to the right a minute later, Dylan Chambost hit the right post in the 38th and Kahlina made a lunging save on Mendez at the left post in the 43rd, and a Martinez follow-up went over the bar.
–Field Level Media
