Arrieta, Higuain lift Crew past Revs
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Jairo Arrieta and Federico Higuain bagged two goals apiece to help the Columbus Crew win their second consecutive match, edging the New England Revolution 4-3 in a thrilling affair at Crew Stadium on Saturday.
The match exploded with four goals coming in the span of 12 first-half minutes.
New England jumped out to a two-goal lead through Ryan Guy and Jerry Bengston only for Columbus to equalize through Higuain and Arrieta.
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Higuain put the Crew in front with a goal just before halftime as the home side looked well on their way to collecting all three points, but Lee Nguyen converted a late penalty kick to level the score.
It made no difference though, as Columbus ultimately came out on top through Arrieta's second of the match, which came four minutes from time.
Columbus (10-8-6) is unbeaten in its last four, going 2-0-2 over that stretch to move to within four points of playoff spot. New England (6-14-5) is winless in its last eight, suffering its fifth successive defeat to stay second from bottom in the Eastern Conference on 23 points.
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New England claimed the lead in the 17th minute when Guy collected a pass from Saer Sene and blasted a shot past Andy Gruenebaum from outside the box.
Six minutes later, the Revs doubled their shocking lead as Bengston latched on to a through ball from Benny Feilhaber, skipped past the on-rushing Gruenebaum and slotted a low shot into the empty net.
Columbus pulled one back through Higuain's free kick moments later and eventually leveled the score in the 32nd minute when Arrieta broke through on goal and roofed a powerful shot past Matt Reis.
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The Crew took their first lead of the night just before halftime as Higuain produced another stunning free kick to beat Reis.
The home side held the lead until the final 10 minutes when Julius James pulled down Diego Fagundez in the box. Nguyen converted from the penalty spot to get New England on level terms with nine minutes to go.
But the Revs could not hold on for a point as Arrieta popped up with his second of the night shortly after. Tony Tchani played a looping through ball into space and the Costa Rican notched the game-winner with a low shot past Reis.