Alex Matan continues to make progress from injury with strong outing for Crew vs Monterrey
It took less than five minutes for Alex Matan to make an impact in the second leg of the Columbus-CF Monterrey Champions Cup semifinals series. He quickly assisted on Diego Rossi's goal after being substituted in at halftime.
And that was just the first of his assists. He had two in the match to help send the Crew to the Champions Cup final on the strength of a 5-2 aggregate-goal win.
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Matan found success dribbling upfield and finding open teammates who were crashing through Monterrey's backline. First, it was Rossi and then it was Jacen Russell-Rowe, who scored the Crew's third goal of the night in the 89th minute.
"I was really happy that I helped the team to qualify (for the final)," Matan said. "To be honest, to score that 2-1 goal early in the second half was a relief because we knew the away-goal advantage, and they would have to push hard."
Prior to that, Matan had not contributed to a goal in either Champions Cup or MLS regular-season play since returning from a muscle strain in his left quad on April 9, when Columbus played in the second leg of the quarterfinals against Tigres.
Matan had been unavailable for Columbus for a month before the Tigres match, last appearing in the first leg of the Round of 16 against the Houston Dynamo. In that game, the Crew's first Champions Cup match of the season, Matan scored the lone goal to give Columbus the 1-0 aggregate advantage.
It was a bright spot in an otherwise rocky time for Matan. He dealt with another thigh injury during training camp. While he was recovering from the muscle strain, he hurt his toe. There were issues in his personal life regarding family.
"I don't think I'm yet at a 100%, but I'm close and I think I'm moving there with the right steps," Matan said. "Also, everything is good at home. So, I'm just happy right now."
Crew coach Wilfried Nancy realized Matan was in turmoil.
"Preseason was difficult for him," Nancy said on Wednesday. "He's back to a normal state, and he showed that he was able to do his (job). He did it in the past, and he did it also this season. ... Now, consistency. This is the most important, so we'll see, it's going to be the challenge for him."
Given Matan's issues this season, he has yet to play a full 90 minutes of action. In the two matches he's recorded goal contributions, Matan did so as a substitution.
After the second leg of the Monterrey series both Matan and Russell-Rowe played key roles offensively coming off the bench, and Nancy used that to remind the team that every player's contribution is crucial.
"I love my job, but it is to put only 11 players on the pitch," Nancy said. "Players coming from the bench are really important. We talk about Alex, but Derrick (Jones) also had a good game when he came in, Malte (Amundsen) also. And we won the game because of them."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Alex Matan has strong outing for Columbus Crew vs CF Monterrey
