Michael AraceColumbus Dispatch
Show Caption
Enjoy this Crew team, Columbus. They defy belief. How long can this last?
In a rematch of the 2023 MLS Cup final, the Crew defeated Los Angeles FC 3-1 before a sellout crowd of 20,192 in the new Crew Stadium Sunday night. It was a heavyweight matchup with the Leagues Cup on the line. It was the champion of the flyover states against the Hollywood stars, with two of the best coaches in MLS – Wilfried Nancy of the Crew and Steve Cherundolo of LAFC – matching wits.
Cucho Hernandez and the Crew came out covered with confetti. Hernandez scored in the final minute of the first half, potted the game-winner in the 92nd minute and assisted on Jacen Russell-Rowe’s thanks-for-coming goal in the 94th minute. And Nancy cried.
“I had incredible emotions,” Nancy said. “All the goals, I love it because we score in different ways. I asked them to go and go and still attack, and they did it well. I have no words for it.”
The League’s Cup is not a handsome trophy, but it is a trophy that MLS commissioner Don Garber was on hand to present. Garber was received as warmly as ever in Columbus. It was all part of the general din of an incredibly aural evening. After Hernandez scored the game-winner in second-half stoppage time, Crew captain Darlington Nagbe was seen covering his ears as he sashayed back to midfield. Yeah, it was that loud.
The Crew under Nancy have become an estimable power on the continent. They took the MLS Cup title away from LAFC in December. They made it to the Champions Cup final – beating Tigres and Monterrey on the road along the way – before Pachuca and food poisoning beat them in the title game. Now, they’ve beaten LAFC for the Leagues Cup. That’s three finals and two trophies in just over nine months.
The Crew now have nine trophies in their glass case: Three MLS Cups (2008, 2020, 2023), three Supporters’ Shields (2004, 2008, 2009), a U.S. Open Cup (2002), a Leagues Cup (2024) and a Campeones Cup (2021). Sunday night, they became the first team in MLS to have won the USOC, MLS Cup, Supporters' Shield and Leagues Cup.
On Sept. 25, the Crew will host another Campeones Cup game, against Liga MX champion Club America. Then, the Crew will get about the business of chasing a Supporters’ Shield (they’re the longshot in a six-team race) and spooling up to defend their MLS Cup title. Although Crew general manager Issa Tall added depth to the roster during the recent transfer window, they’ll be facing an uphill battle, presumably on tiring legs.
“I would never count this team out,” Tall said. “They never cease to amaze us. Every time they are on the ropes or in a hole, they always dig themselves out. We will enjoy this because it is a product of the work, individually and collectively, they do every day. We will enjoy it for two days. Then we will focus again.”
Cherundolo had a game plan to stymie the Crew’s high-scoring, possess-and-attack system. In the first half, LAFC sat back, ceded possession and invited the Crew to tire themselves out. Just before halftime, Mo Farsi floated a little cross to a spot just above the goalie box and Hernandez ran into for a cannonading header. LAFC defender Ilie Sanchez came away with Continental Tire marks on his back. Cherundolo faulted poor marking in the penalty box.
In the second half, LAFC came out with an aggressive, high press and pounced on every Crew miscue. In the 56th minute, Denis Bouanga served up a wicked corner that Olivier Giroud – France’s all-time leading scorer in international play, a World Cup winner and LA’s glittery new designated player – finished with authority. Giroud may be 37 years old, but the Arsenal legend is still 6-4 and 200 pounds, and his headers have heat trails.
Nancy castigated himself for moving his magnet-board buttons to the wrong places in the second half, when the Crew went into a more defensive bent. Then, Nancy remembered who he was. He doesn't coach the scoreboard. He attacks. He made some deft substitutions – including Russell-Rowe for forward Christian Ramirez and Alex Matan for midfielder Sean Zawadzi – and moved his magnets. The Crew attacked.
“We had them on the ropes,” Cherundolo said. “We had some (lapses) defending again. And that’s the difference – two minutes in a game when we weren’t awake, and they were.”
Man, it looked like this thing was headed straight to penalty kicks. The stadium pulsed with decibels of nervous energy. Then Hernandez struck in the 92nd minute: He sent a curling service in from outside the top left corner of the box with the intent of finding Russell-Rowe; LAFC’s goalkeeper, Tottenham legend Hugo Lloris, 37, a World Cup winner, was frozen between reading a header and playing the ball; Hernandez’s cross was too tall for Russell-Rowe, but it arched inside the far post.
Two minutes later, Hernandez and Russell-Rowe were racing up the field in a clearly lethal two-on-one counter. Hernandez drew the defender and passed to Russell-Rowe, who picked the right spot to beat Lloris. As Nancy cried, marveling at the unselfishness of his star forward, more than a few LAFC players crumpled to their knees and stuck their faces in the turf. They’d lost a big-stakes match in Columbus, again.
“I’m so proud of everyone, as individuals and human beings – the player, the coaches, the staff,” Tall said. 'It’s daunting, playing every three or four days (during Leagues Cup this month). They dug so deep. I’m proud of the fans. In Columbus, you go around the city and you don’t see Manchester City flags or Barcelona flags in front of the houses, you see Crew flags. All of this never stops to amaze us.”
If you are a Crew fan, it was another moment you will not forget. Such moments seemed to be coming in a cascade right now. How long can it last? Enjoy it.
marace@dispatch.com
