Columbus Crew SC midfielder Luis Diaz (12) celebrates his goal on May 29, 2021, in the first half against the Toronto FC at Historic Crew Stadium.Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Luis Diaz and Gyasi Zardes each scored first half goals and the Columbus Crew held off Toronto FC for a 2-1 win on Saturday.
Ayo Akinola scored for Toronto in the 52nd minute off a rebound finish.
Diaz escaped on on a breakaway after a Toronto corner in which it didn’t have defenders playing back. Pedro Santos got it to Diaz for a solo run and a one on one with Toronto keeper Alex Bono before finding the back of the net at the 12th minute.
Zardes scored nine minutes later just after he’d had a goal waved off for offside
Columbus (3-2-2) keeper Eloy Room denied Michael Bradley in the expiring minutes of stoppage time with a diving save to seal the win.
Toronto (1-4-2) now has dropped back-to-back contests.