Villalba scores twice, Atlanta United blanks Crew 2-0 (Jul 01, 2017)

By AP
Published

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Hector Villalba scored twice, Alec Kann had an assist and earned his fourth shutout and expansion Atlanta United beat the Columbus Crew 2-0 on Saturday night.

Atlanta struck in the 27th minute when the Crew defense didn't get a touch on Kann's goal kick, and Villaba beat goalkeeper Zach Steffen to the ball.

Villalba picked up his eighth goal in the 64th minute when a deflection to the middle of the box ended up on his foot and he rolled the ball between a defender's legs passed the shielded Steffen. Villalba immediately left the game with cramps.

Altanta (8-7-2) moved past Columbus (8-10-1) for fifth in the Eastern Conference.

Kann made just one save in helping Atlanta end a 0-4-1 road skid. Columbus had scored in 19 straight home matches.