The Columbus Crew overcame a slow start to earn an emphatic 4-2 victory over New York City FC on Saturday evening inside the friendly confines of Lower.com Field. With this breathtaking win, the Crew remain in third place with 49 points, just two behind rival FC Cincinnati and 10 points away from Inter Miami. The Black & Gold still have two games in hand over Lionel Messi and his South Florida squad.

Forward Diego Rossi scored the equalizer in the first half and assisted midfielder Max Arfsten in the beginning of the second half. On the other hand, the visitors struck at the right moment and earned a momentary equalizer by the end of the game, until DeJuan Jones came off the bench as a hero for the penultimate goal. Forward Jacen Russell-Rowe scored the final goal in the 10th minute of stoppage time to cap off an exciting night in the capital city.

The Black & Gold took a few minutes to wake up and put some pressure on New York’s defense during the opening period of the contest. The Pigeons found the scoresheet first in the fourth minute of the game when forward Alonso Martinez slotted his shot past Crew’s goalkeeper Patrick Schulte into the far post with his right foot.

By the first quarter-hour of the game, Columbus Crew registered no shots and the possession of the ball was very weak, something unrecognizable in Wilfried Nancy’s team.

On the other side, the visitors’ high-pressure system didn’t let the Crew play out from the back, resulting in an uncomfortable start.

The equalizer arrived in the 17th minute when forward Cucho Hernandez cosplayed as a winger and, following a quick recovery in the middle by Darlington Nagbe, cut inside defender Tayvon Gray’s position for a crossed assistance to forward Christian Ramirez, who lifted the ball over goalkeeper Matt Freese for Rossi’s goal.

New York replied with a deep ball on the right side of the field, which concluded in a foul and yellow card to defender Malte Amundsen. However, Schulte blocked the free-kick shot.

Hernandez threatened Freese again by the 28th minute when he dribbled past Gray and found a shot that went just wide the far post.

The first half finished with a long crossed ball from Hernandez to teammate Mohamed Farsi on the right side of the field. He found forward Christian Ramirez but the forward just missed his shot and the score remained level.

By the 51st minute, Hernandez with a no-look deep pass to Rossi gave the chance for the Crew to get the second goal of the night, but Rossi’s crossed ball hit New York defender’s hand and, following a VAR review, referee Ted Unkel decided it was not enough to rule it a penalty kick.

Even though that decision made the fans inside the stadium irate, the team didn’t lose focus and kept attacking the visitor’s defense looking for the first lead of the warm night.

Two opposite players fouled Hernandez in the 57th minute, which opened enough space for Rossi to catch the rebound, run towards Freese’s goal, and assist midfielder Max Arfsten behind defender Thiago Martins’ back for the 2-1 lead over New York FC.

This seemed to be a knockout punch for NYCFC, but they got up and replied with clear goal chances.

New York had a close call in the 72nd minute when Nagbe lost a ball in a dangerous place and midfielder Santiago Rodriguez caught the rebound inside Schulte’s box, but his shot went above the crossbar.

Just one minute later, Amundsen blocked another shot, but the ball bounced to Rodriguez’s feet, who was standing right in the penalty kick spot. Luckily for the hosts, the midfielder wasn’t aware and his late reaction caused the ball to end up in the stands.

Nagbe lost the ball in the 85th minute in a favorable corner kick, which ended up in a counterattack by New York, and forward Bonsef Bakrar scored for the momentary 2-2.

In the 94th minute, when the hosts were desperately looking for the advantage, Jones opened his eyes and was quicker than Freese to score the third goal of the night coming from a crossed ball to the box.

Right before the end of the game, subbed in Russell-Rowe caught Freese’s rebound to Rossi’s shot and added the finishing touch to the night in front of a packed crowd to deliver a 4-2 win.

The current Leagues Cup champions host Seattle Sounders next Saturday, August 31st at 7:30 pm.