COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Charlie Davies scored twice to lead the New England Revolution over the Crew 4-2 Saturday in the first leg of Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference semifinals.
The second leg of the total-goals series is Nov. 9 at New England (5:00 p.m./ESPN2, Univision Deportes Network). The winner plays New York or D.C. United for a spot in the MLS Cup.
Davis put the Revolution ahead in the 34th minute with a diving header off Kelyn Rowe’s free kick, and Chris Tierney scored on a left-footed free kick from 23 yards in the 51st.
Justin Meram halved Columbus’ deficit in the 64th minute, but Lee Nguyen made it 3-1 six minutes later when he made a run down the center of the field and beat goalkeeper Steve Clark.
Davies added a second goal in the 78th minute, and Federico Higuain converted a penalty kick for Columbus in stoppage time.
The Crew travels to Gillette Stadium needing to win by three goals to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. New in 2014, Major League Soccer uses road goals as the first tie-breaker in semifinal and conference finals.