Columbus puts New York Red Bulls on blast, 3-0

Cucho Hernandez had a goal and an assist and Patrick Schulte made two saves as the host Columbus Crew cruised to a 3-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night.

Jacen Russell-Rowe and Aidan Morris also scored for defending MLS Cup champion Columbus (3-0-1, 10 points), which is tied with Inter Miami (3-1-1, 10 points) for first place in the Eastern Conference.

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Schulte picked up his second shutout of the season and the ninth of his career. The win extended the Crew's MLS home unbeaten streak to 18 matches (15-0-3).

The loss snapped a six-match regular-season road unbeaten streak (4-0-2) for New York (2-1-1, seven points) that started following a 4-1 loss at Philadelphia on Sept. 3.

Columbus, playing its fifth match in a 15-day span due to two mid-week CONCACAF Champions Cup round-of-16 matches with the Houston Dynamo, showed no signs of fatigue in the first half.

The Crew took a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute when Yaw Yeboah raced down the left side of the pitch and sent a crossing pass into the middle of the box, where Hernandez roofed a right-footed shot over Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel for his third goal of the season.

New York got its first shot on goal in the 42nd minute, a soft looping right-footed attempt by Emil Forsberg from outside the middle of the box that Schulte easily caught.

Hernandez displayed his passing skills in the 56th minute with a perfect through pass from midfield to Russell-Rowe in stride racing down the right wing. Russell-Rowe then booted a right-footed shot inside the far left corner of the net for his second goal of the season.

Ten minutes later, Morris made it 3-0. Diego Rossi sent a corner kick to Sean Zawadzki, who was stationed by the near post. Zawadzki flicked a header back to Morris, and Morris put home a right-footed shot for his first goal of the campaign.