*NOTE: The following editorial was written by MLSsoccer.com and edited by ColumbusCrewSC.com.
FC Dallas and Columbus Crew SC put on an entertaining show and ended up splitting the points, drawing 2-2 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco on Saturday night.
The first half had a number of chances but just one goal from it. Columbus had its chances, including on a Lucas Zelarayan free kick that Josh Williams nudged toward goal, only for Jimmy Maurer to make one of his three first-half saves. In the 38th minute, Dallas would get on the board first with Fafa Picault send a beautiful cross-field pass to a sprinting Michael Barrios The 5'4" Barrios got his head to ball and rocketed it past Eloy Room.
The first half ended on a particularly bad note for the Crew, with Zelarayan appearing to hurt his leg on a shot attempt; he was prone behind the goalline with trainers around him while the Crew got off a pair of corner kicks. He was replaced by 18-year-old Aidan Morris as the teams resumed play.
The Crew opened its scoring less than two minutes into the second half, with Youness Mokhtar getting the goal. But they'd give up the lead once again thanks to Harrison Afful fouling Barrios in the box. Reto Ziegler was able to put the PK past Room, even though Room guessed right and dove left to nearly meet the shot.
It appeared that the Crew answered four minutes later when Gyasi Zardes handled a pass from Luis Diaz behind him and fired it in, but Diaz was ruled offside in the buildup. Santos did find the equalizer in the 62nd minute, however, and the Crew looked the more likely team to find the game-winner down the stretch, though FC Dallas had some promising late-game chances.
Next up, the Crew return home Wednesday to face the Montreal Impact [7:30 p.m. ET / FOX Sports Ohio, FOX Sports GO (Stream) / 97.1 The Fan & 971TheFan.com (English), ColumbusCrewSC.com (Spanish)]
MATCH NOTES
By Crew SC Communications
- Midfielder Pedro Santos found the back of the net in the 62nd minute of tonight’s road match against FC Dallas. Santo’s game-tying goal at 2-2 was his fourth regular-season goal in 2020 and was assisted by midfielder Emmanuel Boateng and forward Gyasi Zardes with consecutive through-ball passes inside the box. Additionally in tonight’s match, the Portuguese midfielder provided his seventh regular-season assist of 2020 for midfielder Youness Mokhtar’s 47th-minute goal.
- Midfielder Youness Mokhtar scored Crew SC’s first goal in tonight’s road match against FC Dallas. Mokhtar’s 47th-minute goal, assisted by midfielder Pedro Santos (defender Harrison Afful with the secondary assist), leveled the score at 1-1 and became his third regular-season goal in 2020, with his first goal coming against FC Cincinnati (July 11) before hi game-winning goal against Atlanta United (July 21) – both matches were during the Group Stage of the MLS is Back Tournament and counted towards regular season points and standings.
- Defender Harrison Afful and midfielder Emmanuel Boateng both provided their first assists of the regular season during tonight’s road match against FC Dallas. In Afful’s six seasons in Black & Gold, he has now provided15 helpers in regular-season action after his secondary assist on Mokhtar’s 47th-minute goal. Boateng’s assist came in the build-up to Pedro Santos’ 62nd-minute game-tying goal, and was Boateng’s 14th regular-season in his five seasons of MLS action so far.
- Defender Jonathan Mensah made five clearances and recorded three interceptions during tonight’s road match against FC Dallas, leading the team in both defensive categories on the night. Additionally, defender Milton Valenzuela and forward Gyasi Zardes each recorded a team-leading three tackles in tonight’s match.
- Up next for Crew SC, the team hosts the Montreal Impact on Wednesday, October 7 [7:30 p.m. ET / FOX Sports Ohio, FOX Sports GO App / 97.1 The Fan & 971TheFan.com (English), ColumbusCrewSC.com (Spanish)].
