ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Diego Rossi scored a goal in each half and the Columbus Crew notched their third straight victory on the road, beating Orlando City 2-0 on Saturday night.
Columbus (6-2-6) took a 1-0 lead into halftime on a penalty-kick goal by Rossi in the first minute of stoppage time. The PK was awarded for a foul on Orlando City midfielder César Araújo following a video review. Going into the review, Orlando City thought it had earned a penalty kick after Crew defender Steven Moreira crashed into Luis Muriel. But the review revealed César Araújo’s foul on Aidan Morris at the other end of the field that was missed in real time.
Rossi gave the Crew a two-goal lead in the 61st minute when he took a through ball from Yaw Yeboah and sent a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the center of the net. All four of Rossi’s goals this season have come in the last four matches.
Patrick Schulte turned away five shots to earn his fourth clean sheet of the season for the Crew.
Pedro Gallese had one save for Orlando City (4-6-4).
The defending champions began their run on the road with wins over CF Montreal and the Chicago Fire.
On its previous visit, the Crew beat Orlando City 2-0 in an Eastern Conference semifinal on their way to the championship last season. It was Columbus’ first postseason win away from home since 2002. Orlando City rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Columbus 4-3 in the Crew’s last regular-season visit in September.
Cucho Hernández did not suit up for the Crew because of a back injury according to manager Wilfried Nancy. Hernández has not played since a 2-1 loss to FC Cincinnati on May 11.
Orlando City hits the road to play the Chicago Fire on Wednesday.
Columbus takes a break from MLS action to play Pachuca in the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Saturday. The Crew return to league action on June 14 when they travel to play New York City FC.
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