Darlington Nagbe scores wonder-goal as Columbus Crew shut out Chicago Fire

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:14 am

Derrick Etienne Jr., Darlington Nagbe and Gyasi Zardes, and the Columbus Crew defeated the visiting Chicago Fire 3-0 on Thursday to extend their official winning streak to four matches.

Etienne made it 1-0 in the 20th minute, Nagbe scored a brilliant volley in the 81st and helped set up the third goal seven minutes later for Zardes. Andrew Tarbell made three saves for the Crew.

Columbus has the most points in Major League Soccer.

The Fire lost their third consecutive game.

Etienne opened the scoring with his first goal of the season against lax defending. Columbus defender Josh Williams started the play with a long ball out of the back. Milton Valenzuela gathered it and went unheeded to the left corner of the box, then sent a sharp pass back to Etienne, who ran onto the ball and was unchallenged by four Fire players.

His shot went to the far netting past Bobby Shuttleworth. The goalie was making his Fire debut in place of Kenneth Kronholm, who underwent surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament last week.

Shuttleworth's 186th MLS regular season game was his first since Oct. 6, 2018, for Minnesota United.

Nagbe's first goal of the season came from a 30-yard strike that smacked the left post. He later went on the attack before finding Pedro Santos on the right flank. Santos sent a cross to Zardes for his fifth goal.

Zardes made amends for missing a penalty kick in the second minute of first-half stoppage time after Luis Diaz was fouled by Miguel Angel Navarro.

The Crew's first game in Columbus since March 1 was played with no fans because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Injuries to midfielders Lucas Zelarayan and Youness Mokhtar and goalkeeper Eloy Room (three shutouts) kept them out of the Crew lineup.

The Crew plays Monday at New York City FC. The Fire's next game is Tuesday vs. FC Cincinnati.