Santi Rodriguez scored in his debut and fellow newcomer Gonzalo Tapia came off the bench to add a goal and an assist as the Columbus Crew ended a five-match MLS winless streak with a 3-0 win over the visiting Colorado Rapids on Saturday.
Rodriguez tallied in the 22nd minute before the Chilean Tapia scored in the 81st in his second MLS.
Taha Habroune scored in the fourth-minute of stoppage time to make it 3-0 after assisting on the Tapia goal for the Crew (6-12-5, 23 points) who had a tie and four consecutive losses to fall to last in the Eastern Conference.
Brais Mendeez had two assists and Patrick Schulte made two saves for his fourth shutout of the season while Adam Beaudry stopped three shots for the Rapids (10-12-1, 31 points).
Columbus won its 400th regular-season match, second only to the Los Angeles Galaxy (417).
Rodriguez was signed from Brazilian club Botafogo on Wednesday after previously playing four seasons for New York City FC and helping them win the 2021 MLS Cup. He had 34 goals and 39 assists in 144 matches across all competitions for NYCFC.
The Crew didn’t waste any time putting their newest designated player into the lineup and he responded almost immediately with an attempt 25 seconds after kickoff that curved outside the left post.
He took a different tactic for the opening goal. A Mendez corner kick was punched out by Beaudray but he went to the ground and was impeded by his own players, leaving the net open for Rodriguez to head the ball in from 16 yards.
Colorado played for the first time since leading scorer Rafa Navarro (10 goals) was sold to St. Louis City on Wednesday.
The Rapids by all measures should have tied it 1-1 in the 35th minute but Darren Yapi botched a cross by Paxten Aaronson and sent the ball left of the goal from 6 yards.
Tapia, signed from Brazil’s Sao Paulo on Aug. 5, entered for Josef Martinez in the 75th minute. After a pass from Mendez on the right side, he used the outside of his right foot to bend the ball inside the left post.
The Rapids have three losses and a tie in their past four trips to Columbus since a 2-0 win on May 11, 2013.
–Field Level Media
