Columbus, Ohio • Artur started a three-goal outburst in the second half shortly after New York City FC went down a man and the Columbus Crew won the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals 4-1 on Tuesday night.
The Crew were clinging to a 1-0 lead when New York defender Alexander Callens was given a red card in the 52nd minute following a video review of his takedown of Justin Meram. Artur, on a feed from Federico Higuain, capped a four-on-two with his first goal of the season six minutes later. Meram scored his 14th in the 69th minute on a long ball that went under keeper Sean Johnson and Harrison Afful got his first goal in the third minute of stoppage time.