RECAP | Columbus Crew SC 3 - 1 New York City FC | Oct. 18, 2020

Artur got his first MLS regular-season goal and helped Columbus Crew SC (10-4-4, 34 pts.) snap a four-game winless streak as the Black & Gold beat New York City FC 3-1 on Sunday night.

Currently, Crew SC is awaiting the results of Atlanta United vs. Toronto FC to see if the Black & Gold can secure a spot in the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Columbus will clinch a berth in the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs if:

• Columbus win vs. NYCFC AND ...
• Atlanta lose or tie vs. Toronto
• – OR –
• Columbus tie vs. NYCFC AND ...
• Atlanta lose vs. Toronto

Notably, the victory marked the 100th career win across domestic competitions as a professional head coach for Caleb Porter.

The Brazilian broke the stalemate in the 26th minute when he jumped on a loose ball in the box to slot it past NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

It marked the Artur's first goal since the 2017 Eastern Conference Semifinals, when he put in his first professional goal — also against NYCFC.

Once Columbus opened the scoring, New York City FC turned it up a notch for the last 15-plus minutes of the half, with four shots going wide and Columbus blocking another three.

Crew SC was able to hold off the visitors to close out the first 45 minutes and then increased their lead to 2-0 early in the second half.

Taking advantage of an NYCFC turnover, Derrick Etienne crossed the ball into the box, where Pedro Santos was waiting to blast a left-footed shot at the goal.

Less than five minutes later, NYCFC’s Valentín Castellanos responded with a close-range goal when a corner kick bounced right to his feet.

As the game wound down in stoppage time, a foul in the box gave Columbus a penalty kick and the opportunity to put a nail in the coffin. Gyasi Zardes stepped to the spot and Johnson blocked the initial shot, but Zardes followed up and tapped it in for a final score of 3-1.

Up next, Columbus travels to the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, Oct. 24.

MATCH NOTES
By Crew SC Communications

• Forward Gyasi Zardes scored his 11^th regular-season goal during tonight’s home match against New York City FC. Zardes’ goal came in the third minute of second half stoppage time, when he scored off a rebounded penalty kick attempt. The strike was also the forward’s 43^rd in regular-season action since joining Crew SC, moving him into sole possession of fifth place in the Crew SC all-time scoring rankings. Zardes is now behind only Jeff Cunningham (64 goals), Brian McBride (62 goals), Federico Higuain (55 goals) and Stern John (44 goals) in all-time scoring for the Crew.
  
• Midfielder Artur scored his first goal in MLS regular-season action in tonight’s home against New York City FC. The Brazilian found the back of the net in the 26^th minute of the match from inside NYCFC’s box. Artur’s only previous goal with the Crew came in MLS Playoffs action, as he scored the game-winning goal in a 2017 Eastern Conference Semifinals home match against New York City FC (October 31).
  
• Crew SC midfielder Pedro Santos scored Crew SC’s second goal in tonight’s match against New York City FC. The midfielder’s game-winning goal came when fired a shot into the left upper corner in the 50^th minute after receiving a cross from fellow midfielder Derrick Etienne Jr. This goal marked Santos’ sixth regular-season tally in 2020 and his 18^th regular-season goal since joining the Black & Gold in 2017.
  
• After tonight’s 3-1 victory over New York City FC at home, Crew SC head coach Caleb Porter earned his milestone 100^th win across all domestic competitions.
  
• Up next for Crew SC, the team travels to face Houston Dynamo Sunday, October 24 [8:00 p.m. ET / SportsTime Ohio, FOX Sports GO App / 97.1 The Fan & 971TheFan.com (English), ColumbusCrewSC.com (Spanish)].