May 22, 2021

Lucas Zelarayan was the hero for the Columbus Crew (2-2-2, 8 pts.) on Saturday, scoring two stunning late free-kicks to give Columbus a dramatic 2-1 win over New York City FC at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ.

Zelarayan struck first in the 82nd minute, with a free-kick blasted past NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson as Columbus drew level to potentially record the Club’s second draw of the regular season.

The Argentine midfielder delivered once more in stoppage time to seal a valuable second win of the season for the defending MLS Cup champs.

NYCFC looked the aggressors throughout the first 15 minutes, however, and finally did find the back of the net through a bottom-corner finish by Ismael Tajouri-Shradi to open his account in 2021.

Not long after, Jesús Medina nearly made it 2-0 on a well-placed pass in the box from Valentin Castellanos but was denied by a brilliant save from The Crew’s Eloy Room.

Castellanos later made his own bid to double the margin in the 33rd from a pass from Tajouri-Shradi but missed the target by mere inches. Columbus did find the net in the 51st minute as Jonathan Mensah fired it home but saw it immediately waved off on a straightforward offside call.

For much of the match, Sean Johnson did not face many threats outside of deep tries from Pedro Santos in the 40th and Darlington Nagbe in the 66th that didn’t miss by much.

But Zelarayan would once again prove the difference, scoring his second and third goals of the season, all of which have come from free-kicks.

Up next, The Crew returns home on Saturday, May 29 vs. Toronto FC at 3 p.m. ET. | PURCHASE TICKETS

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