Columbus Crew earned a hard fought 4-3 victory over Orlando City SC on Saturday evening. The Black & Gold received scoring contributions from forwarda Diego Rossi, Christian Ramirez, Cucho Hernandez, and midfielder AZ Jackson.

Columbus enjoyed a three-goal lead over the visitors in the waning moments, but the last 20 minutes became a nightmare with two consecutive goals from the visitors as they looked to salvage what they could of a sloppy outing. Luckily, Cucho displayed his brilliant skillset and Jackson put the period to the game with the fourth and final goal for the hosts.

The Crew quickly warned Orlando City’s goalkeeper Pedro Gallese within the first minute of the game as Diego Rossi opened the ball on the right side for Christian Ramirez to cross it and find AZ, who couldn’t head the ball correctly.

The Sunshine State visitors almost scored when midfielder Ivan Angulo dribbled from the left side of the field towards the penalty spot and midfielder Alexandru Matan tried to steal the ball, but defender Dagur Thorhallsson caught the rebound his shot came off the right post.

Right from that rebound, attacker Duncan McGuire’s shot on target from inside the box was saved by goalkeeper Patrick Schulte off a terrific individual effort.

Orlando kept hitting hard, as in the 13th minute defender Rodrigo Schlegel headed a corner kick, and again, Schulte’s right post saved the night for the hosts.

The Crew seemed to hold a longer possession of the ball for the first 15 minutes of the match. However, Orlando City were the aggressers in the game by taking advantage of the Black & Gold’s lack of creativity.

The visitors were presented with a clear opportunity to open the score in the 24th minute but Schulte was there to deny it.

Following a foul in the right edge of the box, attacker Martin Ojeda sent a ball to midfielder Facundo Torres who controlled the ball in the six-yard box and shot, but Schulte was there to block it and become the hero again.

Coming from that play and following a VAR review, referee Sergii Boiko almost ruled a handball in Crew’s penalty area, but the call was not effective as Torres was in offside position.

Wilfried Nancy saw his high-pressure tactics prove effective as Rossi served a beautiful crossed shot to Gallese’s far post which gave the Black & Gold the initial lead of the night.

That goal woke the hosts up and two minutes later, by playing out from the back, Schulte found defender Steven Moreira wide open in the middle, who carried the ball to Rossi for a one-touch pass to the right side to defender Mo Farsi, whose crossed ball and found Ramirez in the box. Unfortunately, Ramirez’s shot was off target.

Midfielder Max Arfsten tried a long-distance shot in the 48th minute, but despite having good intentions, that didn’t even challenge Gallese.

The Crew extended the lead at the beginning of the second half when Arfsten found an open space on the left side of the field and sent it to the box, where Ramirez headed the ball into the back of the net. He was on the front doorstep of goal and left completely unmarked.

“Supersub” Cucho Hernandez dribbled between two defenders in the 58th minute and almost found the third goal of the night, but his shot went just above the crossbar.

The Crew achieved the 3-0 lead by the 71st minute when Arfsten, with his second assist of the night, sent a groundball to Hernandez, who beat defender Robin Jansson’s position in the six-yard box.

Orlando found the back of the net in the 74th minute when Angulo dribbled inside the box and his rebounded shot coming off Schulte’s left post was caught by attacker Ramiro Enrique and slammed into the back of the net.

Just two minutes later, following a controversial call by Boiko, attacker Luis Muriel gave the visitors the second goal of the night to make it a one-goal lead with around 15 minutes remaining on the clock.

Orlando City SC held possession of the ball and tried to find open spaces to make the final push of the game, but were unable to make it. Jackson closed the match in the 86th minute when Hernandez assisted him inside the box and placed the ball in Gallese’s net, past the diving goalkeeper.

The last goal of the night came for Orlando and occured in the last minute when Muriel’s shot from a very long distance hit the turf and Schulte couldn’t make the save as the ball dipped at an awkward angle and went in.

The Crew collected three more points and stayed in Supporters Shield contention.

UP NEXT

Columbus pauses MLS competition and goes for another trophy when it faces Club America this Wednesday, September 25th. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 PM.