A rivalry between two original MLS Clubs descended upon MAPFRE Stadium with Columbus Crew SC hosting DC United. Although Columbus was missing captain Wil Trapp and Zack Steffen due to international duty, that gave a couple of new faces a possible chance to make their debut in the banana kit.
MLS Original Club Derby Goes to Columbus by a Score of 3-1
Crew SC Dominant First Half
Things started off chippy from the jump, with Lalas Abubakar receiving a yellow card in the third minute of play. The game also started off shaky, with United controlling most of the possession within the first five minutes of play.
Jon Kempin filled in for the absent Steffen and came up huge in the 15th minute when Darron Mattocks went 1v1 with the California native but wasn’t able to make the most out of his attempt.
Milton Valenzuela Opens Scoring Account
Loanee fullback Milton Valenzuela got the home side on the board first, with his shot on goal that got past goalkeeper David Ousted to give Columbus a 1-0 lead.
G⚽AL!
??You’ll always remember your first @MLS goal!
What a finish, Milton! pic.twitter.com/gYbxCkoYGY— Columbus Crew SC (@ColumbusCrewSC) March 24, 2018
D.C. would eventually equalize nine minutes later when Yamil Asad would capitalize off of an Abubakar error, that led to an odd-man rush for United.
Columbus Opens The Floodgates
Valenzuela wasn’t the only player to open their Crew SC scoring account.
In the 40th minute, midfielder Ricardo Clark — who was also making his debut — got a header on the end of a Federico Higuain corner kick to put Columbus back in front, 2-1.
The assist from Higuain on the Clark goal also was his 50th. Higuain is now the first Crew SC player to record 50 goals and 50 assists for the club.
Just minutes later, a crucial counter-attack came in favor for the Black and Gold, that eventually found Pedro Santos on the end of the pass from the channel into the box, and he was able to tap it in for the first of his career for Columbus.
ANOTHER ONE!
Crew SC make it 3-1! #CLBvDC https://t.co/7iUt9LAkWf
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 24, 2018
Columbus would take the 3-1 lead into the first half, looking to capitalize for more in the second.
Quiet Second Half
A quiet second half with little to no action from both teams is the best way to describe the ending of the match. Columbus had a few good looks, including a Josh Williams header that rang off of the crossbar but nothing could be made out of the half.
Columbus remains unbeaten to start their questionable 2018 season as they defeated DC United 3-1.
Crew SC is back at home next weekend as they host the Vancouver Whitecaps, while DC travels to take on Sporting Kansas City.
