COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ethan Finlay and Jairo Arrieta scored in the first half and the Columbus Crew beat the Chicago Fire 2-0 on Saturday night to end an eight-game winless streak.
Finlay, making his first start of the season and seventh in his three-year career, scored in the 10th minute, and Arrieta followed 15 minutes later with his third goal of the season.
After failing to score in his first 40 MLS games, Finlay has goals in two straight.
Goalkeeper Sean Johnson came out to challenge near the edge of the box, but Finlay - who ran behind Fire defender Greg Cochrane - was able to dribble past him and shoot just before reaching the end line.
“I did think maybe I should have taken it inside at first,” Finlay said. “You saw Cochrane make a nice play and he almost got back to the line. It was a tight angle but it found the back of the net.”
Federico Higuain assisted on both goals, and Steve Clark made four saves for his second shutout of the season. The Crew (4-4-4) were 0-4-4 since beating Seattle on March 29.
“The backline played fantastic,” Clark said. “We did the little thing very well today and if you do that you’re going to get shutouts.”
Chicago (2-3-6) was shut out for the first time this season.
“It’s one of those games where Columbus was better than us,” Chicago coach Frank Yallop said. “They deserved to win the game.”
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