Abubakar's lone goal wins it for Crew
Lalas Abubakar scored off a corner kick in the 85th minute and Zack Steffen made six saves for his fourth consecutive shutout as the visiting Columbus Crew defeated the New England Revolution 1-0 at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.
Abubakar, a defender, ran down the middle of the box for the service by Federico Higuain and hammered a header from 6 yards for his first goal of the season. The goal was the Crew's first on the road in 489 minutes.
Columbus (7-3-3) has won three straight and is 4-0-2 in the past six games. New England is 5-4-2.
Steffen has not allowed a goal in 405 minutes.
In the 71st minute, he made a save at the right post on a 35-yard free kick by Claude Dielna. Steffen got help three minutes later when defender Harrison Afful booted the ball away from the goal line.
Columbus went down the field and Gyasi Zardes, tied for the MLS lead with eight goals, had a tight-angle shot from the left side that Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner denied.
A rainy, 52-degree night produced no goals but several scoring chances in the first half when New England put three of eight shots on goal. Columbus had 11 shots but just two on target.
Steffen's best of his three saves was a lunging stop to his left on a skidding shot by Teal Bunbury in the 38th minute.
The Crew blew a chance in the 9th minute when Higuain shot wildly from a dozen yards after a deflection. In the 32nd, the Revolution was able to twice clear attempts off the line and New England defender Andrew Farrell blocked a Jonathan Mensah shot.
The Revolution plays at Vancouver on May 26. The next day the Crew is on the road vs. Sporting Kansas City.
--Field Level Media
