NYCFC Draws On Road With Columbus

Valentin Castellanos celebrates his goal. Photo by Jason Schott.

New York City Football Club earned a 2-2 draw with the Columbus Crew on Saturday night.

NYCFC's unbeaten streak is up to nine games. This was the end of a perfect four-game road trip, as they earned two wins and two draws. NYCFC returns home to Yankee Stadium this Thursday, June 6, at 7:00 p.m.


NYCFC is now 4-8-1, with 20 points, and they are in the sixth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They are four points behind the Red Bulls and the Montreal Impact, who each have 24 points and 7-3-7 records.
Columbus got on the board first when Gyasi Zardes converted a penalty kick in the 28th minute.
It stayed that way into the second half, when NYCFC tied it in the 57th minute when Héber scored on a feed from Maxi Moralez and Ismael Tajouri-Shradi. It was the Brazilian's fourth goal of the season.
Four minutes later, Columbus got the lead back on a goal from Pedro Santos i the 61st minute.
NYCFC came right back, and in the 76th minute, they tied it at 2 on a goal from Valentin Castellanos, who fired a rocket from 35 feet out. Captain Alex Ring got an assist on the big goal.
NYCFC Head Coach Domenec Torrent said of the game, “In the first half, especially, the plays were better. It was similar to what happened in Chicago. After that we changed the system and we played much better. We played with five offensive players in the last 25 minutes because there is nothing else for us. I’m happy for the players because when you are on the table to win the game, it is important to win points, you know? For us it’s not easy to play four games in a row and we get eight points and a win. Right now, we have the possibility to play four games in a row in Yankee Stadium. We’ll miss some players [for international duty]…and we have to adapt quickly.”