Saturday’s match between Columbus Crew SC and Orlando City SC might has well been called “The Justin Meram Show” as the midfielder’s brace helped the Ohio side cruise to a 2-0 win, their third victory of the young season.
Fresh off a contract extension in March, Meram has been the fulcrum of the Crew SC attack with three goals on the season. He is, after all, the longest-tenured player in the current Black & Gold roster and ranks 11th all-time in the regular-season goal-scoring chart for Crew SC with 27 goals. His 28 career assists are nothing to sneeze at either.
Midfielder Artur recorded his first regular-season assist for Crew SC, setting up Meram’s opening goal. The Brazilian also contributed five tackles in today’s match, his fifth appearance (four starts) for Crew SC in the 2017 MLS regular season. Midfielder Federico Higuain notched his second assist of the season and 37th career regular-season assist for Crew SC. Today’s assist tied the Argentine with Brian Maisonneuve for fifth in the all-time regular-season assists chart for the club. Higuain has been a very busy man, playing every minute of every match for the Black & Gold in the 2017 MLS season.
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen registered his second MLS career win and career shutout with today’s win, recording a season and career-high four saves in the process. Steffen has been a stalwart in goal for the Black & Gold, starting all five of the Black & Gold’s regular-season matches this season and recording a total 13 saves.
Crew SC earned its third victory of the 2017 MLS season and the club’s third consecutive victory of the regular season. The Black & Gold’s last three consecutive regular-season victories came all the way back in 2014. Today’s match also marked the sixth all-time regular-season meeting between the Black & Gold and Orlando.
Crew SC next plays on Saturday, April 8 when it travels to Toyota Park to take on the Chicago Fire at 2:00 p.m. ET.
