Ezequiel Barco brace helps Atlanta United top Columbus Crew, snap 12-match winless streak

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:05 am

Ezequiel Barco scored twice, including a penalty kick, and Marcelino Moreno scored another from the spot as Atlanta United ended a 12-match winless streak with a 3-2 win at the slumping Columbus Crew on Saturday.

Barco scored in the 5th minute and via a PK in the 35th for a 2-0 lead and Moreno, who drew both penalties, made it 3-1 in the 65th as Atlanta won for the first time since May 15, breaking an 0-5-7 skid.

The Crew have allowed 11 goals in losing three straight, including three by penalty kicks in the past two games.

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Jonathan Mensah scored for the Crew in the 37th minute but they later had two goals ruled offside after VAR review before Pedro Santos converted a penalty in the 91st minute to make it 3-2.

Barco scored his first goal since April 24 for the early lead. It was the fifth goal scored by Atlanta in the opening 15 minutes and the fifth given up by the Crew during that interval. The Crew have conceded the first goal in four of the five games at the new Lower.com Field. The other match ended 0-0.

Barco made it 2-0 after Moreno drew a foul by Marlon Hairston, marking the third time in the past five home games the Crew trailed 2-0 in the first half.

Mensah, who scored off a corner kick for a 1-0 victory at Atlanta on July 24, did it again off a corner to cut the deficit to 2-1. But the Crew had the equalizer wiped off the board in the 48th minute when goal scorer Luis Diaz was ruled offside.

After Moreno extended the lead to 3-1, Derrick Etienne Jr. had another Crew goal disallowed in the 73rd minute when he was offside by inches.

The Crew got a lifeline late when Alan Franco fouled Mensah and Santos scored his second of the season, both by PKs.