Fan reactions: Crew vs. New York City FC

The Columbus Crew broke a two-game losing streak and a four-game winnless run with a 3-1 win against New York City FC at MAPFRE Stadium on Sunday night. An energetic first half saw the Crew take a 1-0 lead thanks to Artur’s first MLS regular season goal. Pedro Santos extended the lead early in the second half, but the Black & Gold lost momentum after NYCFC got a goal back.

The Crew spent most of the second half defending, but a win was secured on Gyasi Zardes scored after a rebound from a failed penalty kick attempt. Fans were relieved to see the winless streak broken and excited to see some fight from their club.

The match in one tweet:

Fans were a little worried before the game, but seemed optimistic that the Crew could emerge with a win.

The game got off to a much better start than the last couple matches, as Columbus looked much more energetic and ready to play. There was also a lot of praise for rookie midfielder Aidan Morris, who had maybe his best game for the Crew so far. Hopefully soon Black & Gold fans will learn how to spell Morris’ name.

After a lot of close chances, the Crew finally broke the deadlock in the 26th minute, when Artur collected the ball from Gyasi Zardes after it rebounded off an NYCFC player to score his first regular season goal for the Black & Gold. Notably, Artur’s only other goal for Columbus came against New York City as well in the 2017 MLS Cup playoffs. Fans thought it was a well deserved goal for the work he has put in.

While New York City gained momentum at the end of the first half, Columbus came out strong to start the second, with Santos scoring one of his trademark golazos in the 50th minute.

Since it’s 2020 though, Columbus couldn’t escape the match without adding more players to the injury list. Santos had to be subbed off in the 65th minute after going down injured and Artur had to finish out the game with a knock after being taken down in bad tackle. Fans were of course frustrated, but wished the players a speedy recovery.

Most of the second half saw the team defending its lead, as NYCFC scored and subbed on new attacking players. Fans were quite nervous that the Crew might blow the game, but the Black & Gold kept up the hustle, leading to the penalty kick call as Artur was tackled in the box. Zardes stepped up to take it, missing at first, but scoring on the rebound to secure a 3-1 win.

With a return to winning ways, fans were excited to see some heart and energy from their team, despite the increasing number of injuries. There were also some Most Valuable Player shouts for Santos and a request that the league keep the 6 p.m. ET kickoff times.

With that, I leave you with this tremendous image.