Jonathan Mensah, Harrison Afful Standout In Columbus Crew’s Defeat At FC Cincinnati

Ghana duo, Jonathan Mensah and Harrison Afful displayed good form in Columbus Crew colours on Wednesday night when the team suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of FC Cincinnati.

The two defenders have been key for the Ohio-based club since the 2020 Major League Soccer (MLS) season started and continue to perform at the top level on match days.

Yesterday, the pair played in their usual roles when Columbus Crew visited the Nippert Stadium for a Matchday 17 encounter.

Although Crew will lose the match at the end of the 90 minutes, the performances of Jonathan Mensah and Harrison Afful stood out.

The defenders excelled in their roles and combined for 4 clearances, 12 interceptions, and 8 successful tackles. Afful and Mensah's overall rating of 7.7 and 7.1 is the highest by any Columbus Crew player in the away defeat.

Below is the detailed match stats of the Ghana defenders:

www.sofascore.com

On the matchday, the first half ended 1-1 with Yuya Kubo’s goal from the penalty spot on the 17^th minute being canceled by Pedro Santos in added time in a similar fashion.

Four minutes into the second half, FC Cincinnati scored again courtesy of a strike from Nick Hagglund to ensure they earned all 3 points at the end of the 90 minutes.

Ghana’s Emmanuel Boateng also featured for Columbus Crew on the matchday but was substituted at the break after struggling to impress in the first half.