2023-11-08 03:49:04
ATLANTA (AP) — Giorgos Giakoumakis contributed a goal and set up two others on Tuesday as Atlanta United beat the Columbus Crew 4-2 to force the third and decisive game in the MLS playoffs.
Atlanta snapped a four-game winless streak and will visit Columbus on Sunday. The winner will earn a spot in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Giakoumakis, named the player with the best debut of the year in MLS, scored 17 goals in the campaign. This time, he opened the scoring in the 38th minute.
The Greek was left alone in the area and headed in a cross sent to him by Brooks Lennon.
Cucho Hernández, Columbus’ Colombian star, had scored the two goals in Wednesday’s victory. This time, he scored seven minutes following Giakoumakis to tie it 1-1.
But Atlanta went into halftime with a 2-1 lead, following Portuguese Xande Silva scored in stoppage time, with a pass from Giakoumakis.
Colombian Edwin Mosquera and Argentine Thiago Almada scored in a five-minute interval near the end, to make the score 4-1. Max Arfsten, Crew forward, put definitive numbers in second-half stoppage time.
Columbus fell for the first time in its last five visits to Atlanta. They have not won a single of their last 16 road playoff games.
The last time they won on a foreign court in the postseason was in 2002, when they visited San José in the quarterfinals.
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