New York City FC Tie 0-0 With Columbus Crew
New York City FC battled to a hard-fought draw on the road against Columbus Crew. Despite early chances and a strong defensive showing, City couldn’t find a breakthrough. Debuts for forward Seymour Reid and midfielder Máximo Carrizo highlighted the night, while a late Columbus goal was ruled out by VAR, preserving the clean sheet.
Columbus Crew 0 New York City FC 0
Report by NYCFC.com
New York City FC were back on the road Saturday night as they took on Columbus Crew.
City came into the game fresh off back-to-back home wins and were keen to record their first road win of the campaign.
Head Coach Pascal Jansen made several changes to the team that beat the New England Revolution last time out. In came Kevin O’Toole, Mounsef Bakrar, and Birk Risa for Nico Cavallo, Alonso Martínez, and Jonathan Shore.
First Half
The visitors started brightly, and that presented Bakrar with a chance to break the deadlock in the eighth minute—his shot going just wide.
Columbus promptly responded with a dangerous headed effort from Yevhen
Cheberko that harmlessly sailed over Matt Freese’s crossbar.
Clever play in the 22nd minute allowed Kevin O’Toole to curl a pass into space for Hannes Wolf to run onto. The Austrian did a great job cutting inside his marker before seeing his shot blocked.
City were forced into a first-half change when Keaton Parks pulled up with an injury. Ready to replace him in midfield was the promising youngster Shore.
Freese was called into action on the stroke of halftime to make a fantastic save to deny Diego Rossi after he found space inside the area.
Second Half
The second half saw Columbus start the brighter of the two sides, as Aziel Jackson and Rossi both registered shots on goal.
As the hour mark approached, Jansen introduced Agustín Ojeda in place of Julián Fernández.
City found it challenging to produce a final pass in attack, which saw several good opportunities go to waste.
Further changes arrived in the 73rd minute as Seymour Reid and Máximo Carrizo entered for their MLS debuts, replacing Wolf and Bakrar. The young pair became City’s tenth and eleventh Homegrown players to debut in MLS.
Columbus thought they had claimed the lead in the 84th minute after Jacen Russell-Rowe converted from close range. Fortunately for City, the goal was called back for offside after a VAR review.
That would prove to be the hosts last chance of note, thanks in no small part to some dogged defending from City, securing Jansen’s side a vital point on the road.