CHICAGO — Lucas Zelarayán scored in the third minute of second-half stoppage time to rally the Columbus Crew to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night.
Zelarayán's goal for Columbus (8-6-3) — his eighth of the season — came after Xherdan Shaqiri scored the equalizer for Chicago (3-6-8) in the 88th minute.
The victory was the Crew's second straight over the Fire in Chicago. Prior to that Columbus had gone 1-10-13 in its previous 24 visits. The last — and only — time the Crew won two straight road matches over the Fire was in 2004.
Cucho Hernández staked the Crew to a 1-0 lead in the 59th minute, using a pass from Darlington Magbe to score his fourth goal of the season. Hernández has had a hand in at least one goal in eight straight contests, matching the club record set by Jeff Cunningham in 2001.
The Fire lost for the first time in their last 10 home matches, although seven of them ended in draws. It was the longest Chicago had gone unbeaten at home since a 14-match run spanning the 2016-17 seasons.
Shaqiri's first goal of the season for Chicago came with assists from Miguel Navarro and Jairo Torres.
Columbus snapped a three-match skid on the road. The Crew have gone 1-6-7 on the road in between their two victories over the Fire.
Spencer Richey totaled two saves in his third start of the season for the Fire. Patrick Schulte saved one shot for the Crew.
Columbus travels to play New York City FC on Saturday. Chicago is idle.
