COLUMBUS – Artur started a three-goal outburst in the second half shortly after New York City FC went down a man and the Columbus Crew FC won the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals 4-1.
The match was played in front of more than 14,000 fans, many of whom arrived carrying signs and chanting in protest of the team’s potential move to Austin, Texas, in 2019.
The second leg will be played at Yankee Stadium Sunday (5:00 p.m./ESPN).
The Crew was clinging to a 1-0 lead when New York defender Alexander Callens was given a red card in the 52nd minute following a video review of his takedown of Justin Meram.
Artur’s goal came on top of Ola Kamara’s in the sixth minute and was followed by a goal by Meram in the 69th minute, all before NYC got on the board. Harrison Afful’s goal in stoppage time added to the Crew SC’s margin in the aggregate-goal series.
Frederico Higuain assisted on two of the goals.
The win brought Crew SC’s undefeated streak to 12 consecutive matches, during which Columbus has outscored its opponents 23-11 with four shutouts.