The Columbus Crew earned a second straight win Wednesday night, coasting to a 3-1 victory over Atlanta United. The opener from Andrés Herrera and two goals from Jacen Russell-Rowe sealed all three points for the Black & Gold. With the win, Black & Gold strengthened their hold on 4th place in the MLS Eastern Conference with 34 points across 19 matches, while Atlanta United remained in 13th place in the East with 17 points across 19 matches.

Daniel Gazdag gave the Atlanta defense a scare in the 5th minute. A right-footed cross from Steven Moreira from the edge of the 18-yard box was dummied by Lappalainen before finding Gazdag, who was positioned favorably just outside the six-yard box. Gazdag controlled the ball on the bounce with the outside of his right foot, before striking the ball on the volley powerfully toward Guzan. Just before the ball could reach the keeper, Brooks Lennon maneuvered his body in front of the shot, the ball deflecting off his leg and out for a corner.

In the 17th minute, Guzan rushed from his goal to defend against an approach from Russell-Rowe. Diego Rossi threaded a pass through the Atlanta defense with the outside of his right foot from the edge of the 18-yard box toward Russell-Rowe, who got a toe-poke to the ball. Guzan spread his reach and dove to the ground, quickly squashing any chance at goal.

The opener finally arrived in the 23rd minute courtesy of Herrera. Dylan Chambost guided a straight lobbed through ball from 40 yards out into Herrera’s path on the right side of the field toward the edge of the 18-yard box. Herrera’s well-timed run saw him fly past Atlanta’s back five. After controlling the pass with his outstretched right leg, Herrera shifted his body and curled a left-footed shot around Guzan and into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Building on the momentum of Herrera’s opener, Gazdag nearly opened his goalscoring account for the Black & Gold six minutes later. Rossi drove the ball forward in transition from the halfway line, leaving Atlanta United’s defenders scrambling to track back and defend the oncoming threat. Rossi wove a short, diagonal pass into the path of Gazdag, who was now one-on-one with Guzan. Gazdag opted to poke the ball toward the middle of the goal, forcing Guzan to sprawl to make the save, the ball deflecting outward off of his chest.

Russell-Rowe doubled the Black & Gold’s lead in the 32nd minute of play. Gazdag set the play into motion with a through ball from behind the halfway line into the path of Russell-Rowe. The attacker approached the 18-yard box but faced opposition from Efrain Morales, who sought to pry the ball away. Russell-Rowe cut back and turned toward goal as Morales neared, with the defender briefly dislodging the ball. Abruptly, Russell-Rowe turned to once again face the goal, and, at an angle seemingly so tight that only a cut-back pass seemed plausible, the forward lasered a shot through the narrow space between Guzan’s left foot and the near post.

Gazdag found himself face-to-face with the occasional brick wall that is Brad Guzan once again in the 36th minute. On the receiving end of a floating cross from Rossi into the penalty area, Gazdag composedly controlled the ball with his chest before launching into a “scissor kick” attempt. His shot forced Guzan to go to ground as it fell to the right corner, with the keeper using a single glove to knock the ball out for a corner.

Capitalizing on a defensive error, Russell-Rowe scored his second and the Crew’s third goal of the night in the 42nd minute. A poor pass at the back from Matthew Edwards intended for Bartosz Slisz was swarmed by Russell-Rowe, whose pressure caused Slisz to fumble the ball and lose possession to Diego Rossi. Rossi approached the 18-yard box and played a short, leftward through ball to Russell-Rowe at the edge of the six-yard box, with Russell-Rowe caressing a firm, first-touch finish with his left foot into the net despite a deflection off Guzan’s leg.

Atlanta United’s Lennon clawed a goal back for the visiting side in the 60th minute following a lengthy VAR check. Alexey Miranchuk played a lofted cross deep into the box from wide left-field, which Morales was able to head into the contested penalty area before the ball went out of play. Amidst a scramble, an attempted shot from Matthew Edwards made its way to Lennon, whose low shot crossed the goal line. Yevhen Cheberko attempted to clear the ball off the line, but upon review, referee Victor Rivas ruled in favor of Atlanta United, bringing the score to 3-1.

In the 65th minute, a deflected Mohamed Farsi shot challenged Guzan, but couldn’t quite beat him. Ibrahim Aliyu played a pass across the 18-yard box from the left flank to Farsi, who dribbled right around his defender before firing a shot at goal. Pedro Amador slid just as the ball was shot, taking a deflection off his leg and misdirecting the ball slightly. Despite the change in the ball’s path, Guzan was positioned well to make the save and prevent a fourth Crew goal.

Rossi posed a final threat to Guzan in injury time with a curling shot from distance. His attempt from the left corner of the 18-yard box toward the top right corner of the goal caught Guzan by surprise, as he stood guarding the near post. The veteran shot stopper raced across goal and pulled off a diving save to thwart the chance.

The win signals a turn of the tide, a second consecutive victory, as the Crew previously failed to record a single win across six matches between May 10th and June 14th. And for Crew fans, it’s a sigh of relief and a breath of fresh air, as the Black & Gold are playing beautiful soccer and back to winning ways.

Russell-Rowe scored his sixth and seventh goals of the season, hist first goals since scoring away at Montreal on May 14th. Rossi was instrumental up top, providing an assist and being ever-present in the Black & Gold’s relentless attack as the team recorded 19 total shots, 10 of which were on target. Credit must also go to Gazdag, who found himself in the right spots and nearly scored on multiple occasions; his first Crew goal feels inevitable.

Evan Bush (39 years and 116 days old) started his second consecutive match between the sticks for the Black & Gold in place of Patrick Schulte, who remains out of action through injury, and Nicholas Hagen, who is currently on international duty with Guatemala at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Rather than turning to Abraham Romero, Wilfried Nancy again opted for the veteran shot stopper in the keeper’s absence, a decision which has proved to be a winning formula following formidable wins over the Vancouver Whitecaps and Atlanta United. With Brad Guzan (40 years and 289 days old) starting in goal for Atlanta United, the combined ages of both starting goalkeepers were 80 years and 40 days. 

The Black & Gold return to Lower.com Field to face the Philadelphia Union in their next match on Sunday, June 29th at 6:00 p.m. ET.