Christian Benteke tallies brace as D.C. United, Crew play to a draw

Christian Benteke scored two goals, including one in the 81st minute, as D.C. United pulled out a 2-2 draw with the visiting Columbus Crew on Saturday night in Washington.

Benteke reached the 21-goal mark for the season, notching his second goal of the match off a pass from Gabriel Pirani.

Cucho Hernandez provided a goal and an assist and Jacen Russell-Rowe also scored as both goals for the Crew came less than three minutes apart early in the second half. Columbus (16-5-9, 57 points), which has gone through a grueling recent schedule, was thwarted in an attempt to win its third consecutive match.

D.C. United (8-13-10, 34 points) has at least one point in four of its last five matches, but it will still be an uphill climb for the team to reach the MLS postseason with just three matches remaining.

The Crew have scored at least two goals in their last three MLS matches, but defensive breakdowns proved costly. Columbus applied regular pressure on D.C. United, but the home team ended up with a 5-3 advantage on corner kicks.

The United scored first in the 30th minute on Benteke's goal in transition, taking a feed from Theodore Ku-DiPietro.

The Crew got rolling early in the second half on Hernandez's goal. That was assisted by Steven Moreira.

Hernandez, who has 16 goals this season, has posted a goal in three straight matches.

Russell-Rowe has two of his five goals this year within the past month. His goal in the 57th minute gave the Crew the lead for the first time.

Benteke scored all three D.C. United goals against Columbus this season. He had a tally in a 1-1 draw in early April.

--Field Level Media