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Another home game, another night of history for Columbus Crew SC. After a slow start, Crew SC found a groove en route to a 3-1 win over D.C. United.
All of the action came in the first half. Milton Valenzuela, the first young designated player in team history, scored the first goal of his professional career in the 20th minute. The 19-year-old was assisted by Cristian Martinez, himself only 21, with a secondary assist from Artur, 22.
United leveled things up 10 minutes later when Lalas Abubakar mishit a header behind him, leaving Yamil Assad with a wide open look at net. Jon Kempin, getting the start in goal while Zack Steffen is with the US National team, was frozen to the spot. It was a tough game from the impressive young centerback. Abubakar picked up a yellow card in just the third minute, and deserved another one that the referee missed. He was subbed out at halftime.
“We were concerned that his yellow would turn into a yellow/red in the second half,” head coach Gregg Berhalter said.
D.C.’s dreams of a first road win in Columbus since 2007 were quickly scuttled when the veterans got into the game. Ricardo Clark, playing for Wil Trapp who is also with the national team, scored his first goal for Crew SC in his first start for the team. The looping header floated into the net after a corner from Federico Higuain. The assist made Higuain the first Crew SC member of the 50 goal, 50 assist club. He is just the 19th player in MLS history to hit that mark, and the seventh to do it with one team.
“This is no small thing. To get 50 goals and 50 assists in this league is a great accomplishment,” Berhalter said.
“I’m happy. I’m proud to be a part of this team…I’m a hard worker but nothing is possible without my teammates, my coach…let me tell them, thank you.” Higuain said.
Two minutes later, Pedro Santos tapped in the insurance goal, the first time he’s found paydirt in his brief Columbus career. Higuain and Martinez both picked up assists again.
Unlike the last home game against Montreal, Crew SC were able to prevent DC from getting back into the match and kept pressing for more goals. “We’re an offensive team, we like to score goals, but at the same time we’re not idiots. We have to defend our goal. That was the difference in this game,” Higuain said.
The victory keeps Crew SC unbeaten this season through four games, their best start to a season since 2010. The only draw came last week on the road against the Philadelphia Union. The team will look to push the streak to five next week at home against the Vancouver Whitecaps.