CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Ashley Westwood and Patrick Agyemang scored late in the second half and Charlotte FC beat Columbus 2-0 on Saturday, handing the defending-champion Crew their first loss of the season.
Columbus (3-1-1) was forced to play a man down after midfielder Derrick Jones was shown a red card in the 26th minute.
Columbus appeared to take the lead in the 10th minute of first-half stoppage time, but Cucho Hernández had a goal overturned after Malte Amundsen was caught offside.
The two clubs played 16 minutes of first-half stoppage time because of injuries to the Crew’s Steven Moreira, Rudy Camacho, Christian Ramírez, and Darlington Nagbe, as well as Charlotte’s Scott Arfield. Columbus’ Yaw Yeboah and Mohamed Farsi were shown yellow cards in the 15th minute of stoppage time, but Iuri Tavares’ penalty kick missed the top right corner of the net.
Kristijan Kahlina did not have to make a save in earning the clean sheet for Charlotte (2-2-1).
The Crew’s Evan Bush finished with three saves in his first start of the season for Columbus. Bush last played in goal for the Crew in 2021 when he made four starts.
Charlotte and new coach Dean Smith played at home for the first time since a 1-0 victory over New York City FC in the season opener.
The Crew were coming off a 3-0 home victory over the New York Red Bulls.
Columbus travels to play Nashville SC on Saturday. Charlotte will host FC Cincinnati on Saturday.
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