Three weeks ago, Columbus Crew SC dominated D.C. United at home in a game of many firsts for the Black & Gold.
Defender Milton Valenzuela opened the scoring on a cross from Cristian Martinez. This goal marked Valenzuela’s first career professional goal with Major League Soccer and Crew SC.
In the 40th minute, the game winning goal was headed in by Ricardo Clark marking his debut goal for Crew SC. The assist came from Federico Higuain — his 50th career assist — and sent Higuain straight into MLS’s 50-goals, 50-assists club. Higuain is the first Columbus-exclusive member of the club and joins 19 other players, including Black & Gold legends Brian McBride and Jeff Cunningham.
Columbus took advantage of the energy in MAPFRE Stadium and scored just two minutes later. Martinez recorded his second assist of the game, driving a pass from Higuain down the field and crossing to Pedro Santos who found the back of the net. Santos was the third player of the game to record a debut goal for Crew SC.
The Black & Gold recorded these historic milestones in the first half alone and maintained momentum in the second half to earn the 3-1 victory.
Columbus will meet D.C. for the second time this season on Saturday, April 14 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Crew SC is looking to continue its success against United.
Crew SC will return to MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday, April 21 to host New England Revolution in a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
