DC United survive second half onslaught to beat Columbus Crew

May 3, 2015 at 12am UK

FT(HT: 2-0)

DC United defeat Columbus Crew 2-0 in the MLS despite being under pressure for large spells.

Published: May 3 2015 | 01:59

Last updated: May 3 2015 | 18:16

DC United survived a second-half onslaught from Columbus Crew to claim a 2-0 victory in the MLS.

United broke the deadlock after 15 minutes as Fabian Espindola scored his first goal of the season from Chris Rolfe's assist.

Espindola nearly added a second four minutes later, but his shot was saved by Steve Clark.

Kei Kamara had Columbus's first scoring chance, but his shot was blocked in the 36th minute and Mohammed Saeid missed the target from 18 yards a few minutes later.

Espindola was in the thick of the action once again, setting up Sean Franklin to double DC's lead before half time.

Columbus started the second half well, with Federico Higuain narrowly missing a header in the 53rd minute. Kristinn Steindorsson then volleyed wide and Higuain was denied by Bill Hamid as the Crew pressure built.

Columbus continued to push for a goal in a dominant second-half performance, but the DC defence held firm as Tony Tchani's long-range shot was saved before Kamara headed over the bar from six yards.

Saeid and Higuain again had chances in the closing 10 minutes as Columbus outshot their opponents by 13 to nine, but Columbus's profiglacy, coupled with Hamid's performance in the DC goal, ensured that the capital club claimed the spoils.

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Eastern Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Miami Inter Miami	34	22	8	4	79	49	30	74
2	Columbus Crew	34	19	9	6	72	40	32	66
3	FC Cincinnati Cincinnati	34	18	5	11	58	48	10	59
4	Orlando City	34	15	7	12	59	50	9	52
5	Charlotte FC Charlotte FC	34	14	9	11	46	37	9	51
6	New York City FC NY City	34	14	8	12	54	49	5	50
7	New York Red Bulls NY Red Bulls	34	11	14	9	55	50	5	47
8	CF Montreal Montreal	34	11	10	13	48	64	-16	43
9	Atlanta United Atlanta	34	10	10	14	46	49	-3	40
10	DC United	34	10	10	14	52	70	-18	40
11	Philadelphia Union Philadelphia	34	9	10	15	62	55	7	37
12	Toronto	34	11	4	19	40	61	-21	37
13	Nashville SC Nashville	34	9	9	16	38	54	-16	36
14	New England Revolution New England	34	9	4	21	37	74	-37	31
15	Chicago Fire	34	7	9	18	40	62	-22	30

Western Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Los Angeles FC Los Angeles	34	19	7	8	63	43	20	64
2	Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy	34	19	7	8	69	50	19	64
3	Real Salt Lake Salt Lake	34	16	11	7	65	48	17	59
4	Seattle Sounders Seattle	34	16	9	9	51	35	16	57
5	Houston Dynamo Houston	34	15	9	10	47	39	8	54
6	Minnesota United Minnesota Utd	34	15	7	12	58	49	9	52
7	Colorado Rapids Colorado	34	15	5	14	61	60	1	50
8	Portland Timbers Portland	34	12	11	11	65	56	9	47
9	Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver	34	13	8	13	52	49	3	47
10	Austin FC Austin	34	11	9	14	39	48	-9	42
11	Dallas	34	11	8	15	54	56	-2	41
12	St Louis City	34	8	13	13	50	63	-13	37
13	Sporting Kansas City Kansas	34	8	7	19	51	66	-15	31
14	San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes	34	6	3	25	41	78	-37	21