There was no draw in the cards for the Crew tonight. After sharing the points in three consecutive games, Columbus secured an important three points to reclaim their playoff position in the Eastern Conference. They handed NYC their second straight loss, their first two-game losing streak of the season, as they were once again foiled by Zelarayan's brilliance.

NYCFC dominated the first half, nearly taking the lead in the fourth minute thanks to Valentin Castellanos, but the Argentinian forward was denied by a big save by Room. A few minutes later, it appeared that they had won a penalty when a shot by Gudmundur Thórarinsson was ruled to have deflected off the arm of Saad Abdul-Salaam inside the scoring area. The penalty was changed to a free-kick after a video review determined Abdul-Salaam was outside the penalty area, and Thórarinsson's subsequent attempt on the set-piece went straight into the Columbus wall.

In the 15th minute, the Crew saw one of their own chances go begging. Darlington Nagbe made a nice buildup with Abdul-Salaam, but Miguel Berry's resulting shot from Abdul-pass Salaam's was robbed by Luis Barraza.

However, Columbus broke the deadlock in stoppage time when Nagbe capped a beautiful run with a chipped finish past Barraza to give Columbus the lead right before the break.

However, NYCFC equalized early in the second half. A giveaway in the box found Jesus Medina, who scored with his left foot to tie the game at one. They came perilously close to taking the lead in the 55th minute, but Room was forced to make back-to-back saves in a move that was eventually ruled offside.

Columbus took the lead in the 62nd minute on Zelarayan's fourth free-kick goal of the season, thrilling a boisterous Lower.com Field crowd. That matched David Beckham's 2012 mark and put Zelarayan two short of Sebastian Giovinco's single-season record.

[Photography by ICONIC photographer Sean Faska]