FC Columbus Falls to AFC Ann Arbor 4-1

By FC Columbus

An early brace by Yazeed Matthews was too much to overcome as FC Columbus suffered its third loss of the season, falling 4-1 to AFC Ann Arbor at Concordia University.

After a clearance following the first corner of the match, Matthews found the back of the net on their second set piece of the match, sending the home side to an early one-goal lead in the fourth minute.

Columbus rebounded well after the early setback, controlling the possession of the ball through the midfield. An early foul by AFCAA in their defensive third led to FCCLB’s first chance of the match. Standing over the ball, Damani Camara forced Ann Arbor’s Ian McGrain into his first save of the match. His rebound fell to FCCLB’s Devyn Etling, who hails from The Ohio State University, who almost brought the visiting side level in the 23rd minute.

Six minutes later in the 29th minute, a turnover in the defensive third led to a breakaway for Matthews. Finding the ball, Matthews separated and found room to finish past a diving Clay Musgrave, putting AFCAA ahead 2-0.

Again, FCCLB responded well, earning a corner in the 33rd minute of the match. The following throw-in fell to AFCAA’s Jake Russ, who hit a well-struck ball forward towards Jarred Dass. The forward beat a charging Musgrave to the ball and finished into the open net, sending the home side to 3-0 lead in the 37th minute.

Following the halftime break, FC Columbus came out strong looking to claw back into the match.

AFC Ann Arbor secured the win in the 66th minute of the match, as a mishit clearance rolled toward Matthews. With possession in the final third, Matthews found an unmarked Sebastian Chalbaud, who finished on his second effort following an initial save by David Abonce of The Ohio State University.

Despite the deficit, FC Columbus continued push towards goal until the final whistle. In the 87th minute, their efforts finally paid off. Gathering the ball in the midfield, Jalim Bayo dribbled forward from the center circle. Finding himself with space, he hit a well-struck ball on net that rebounded off the goalkeeper towards Etling. With a nifty side volley, the first-year forward from Ashland, Ohio found the back of the net.

The loss moves FC Columbus to 2-3-4 on the year and 2-1-3 in the Great Lakes Conference. FCCLB finishes a three game road trip next weekend against Kalamazoo FC on Friday, June 14th and Grand Rapids FC Sunday, June 16th.

Photo Credit: Justin Anderson/FC Columbus