Columbus Crew boosted by new players to advance past Sporting KC in Leagues Cup: Takeaways
After receiving a bye through the group stage in this year's Leagues Cup, the Crew had to win just one game to advance further than they did last season in the inaugural edition of the tournament.
The Crew were knocked out during the round of 32 of Leagues Cup last year, falling 4-3 in a penalty kick shootout against Minnesota United. Facing Sporting Kansas City in this season's round of 32, the Crew were able to take control and put the prospect of penalty kicks out of reach by the time forward Diego Rossi scored his second goal of Columbus' 4-0 victory on Friday.
Replay: Columbus Crew advance to Leagues Cup round of 16 with 4-0 win vs Sporting KC
While they finished with the same result as June's regular-season meeting with Kansas City, a different group of players scored for Columbus in the Leagues Cup matchup.
In fact, DeJuan Jones and Dylan Chambost, who scored the Crew's other two goals, had yet to officially join the club the last time the Crew went up against Kansas City.
"When we bring new players, it is to add freshness, competition and also solutions," Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said. "This is exactly what they did. I knew that around the 55-60 minutes, I need to make changes, and this is exactly what happened. They came in really well."
This also marked Rossi's first Leagues Cup match, as he returned to Major League Soccer by signing with the Crew from Turkey's Fenerbahce SK on Aug. 2 last season, but didn't debut until after the tournament was complete.
Rossi will look to continue the momentum he built in his first game of the tournament when the Crew face Inter Maimi in the round of 16 on Tuesday at Lower.com Field. Miami will likely be without star players Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, who are both recovering from injuries, but Miami did defeat Columbus without those players earlier this season.
"I always like to win every match," Rossi said. "Obviously, they have great players, but we always train and prepare for each match the same way. In this case, it's special because one of the two teams will be eliminated."
Here are three takeaways from the Crew's 4-0 victory over Kansas City in the round of 32.
Columbus Crew get on the board with goals from Diego Rossi, proving he can score near and far
In the year that Rossi has been with the club, the 26-year-old has grown more comfortable finding opportunities to score within the Crew's system and has taken his game to another level with the ability to hit different types of shots during the span of one match.
The first goal that Rossi scored against Kansas City was a one-touch shot close to the net off an assist from Crew leading-scorer Cucho Hernandez. The second, Rossi got control of the ball outside Kansas City's box off a turnover and had just a split second to make the decision to shoot.
"The second goal that he scored, he didn't think too much," Nancy said. "The ball came, and he decided to try something. This is exactly the values we have here - try things and don't overthink."
Nancy noted that coming off the nearly three-week break the Crew had since their last competitive match on July 20, Rossi was physically tired by the time he was substituted out of the match in the second half, but Rossi still "helped the team settle a bit into the game."
DeJuan Jones starts his Columbus Crew career in record-breaking style
Once Rossi scored his second goal, Nancy began to rotate players from the starting lineup out of the game. And more than halfway through the second half, Nancy replaced Rossi with forward Jacen Russell-Rowe and midfielder Max Arfsten with Jones, who was making his Columbus debut after being traded to the club from the New England Revolution on July 30.
Jones entered the game near the 76-minute mark and scored the Crew's third goal of the night in the 77th minute, approximately 30 seconds after being put into the match.
"Honestly, I was in a good spot for the corner kick, so I was ready if the ball came to me," Jones said. "So, when I got the ball in the corner, I was going to serve it back in, but then I saw Jacen (Russell-Rowe) at the top of the box, so I played him and just continued my run. And thankfully, he saw me and played me back, and once I took my touch, I just wanted to get my shot off quick."
The goal from Jones is the quickest any player has scored in their debut for Columbus and marks his first goal of the season. Coming from New England, Jones had recorded six goals in over five seasons with the Revolution.
"Good to get back on the scoresheet," Jones said. "(Once I scored), I found my wife in the crowd, gave her a heart."
Dylan Chambost goes 2-for-2 in a Columbus Crew uniform
Though the Aston Villa friendly on July 27 was an unofficial match for Columbus, where neither the stats nor player appearances went towards the Crew's official records, it was the first time Chambost entered a game in a Columbus uniform. Coming in after halftime against Aston Villa, it took Chambost five minutes to score his first goal in front of fans at Lower.com Field.
Making his official debut for Columbus against Kansas City, it took Chambost slightly longer, 12 minutes after being substituted in, to score.
Chambost pounced on a rebound off a save from Kansas City goalkeeper John Pulskamp. The 27-year-old Chambost admitted that, like the Aston Villa goal, he was just in the right place at the right time, something Nancy (jokingly) agreed with.
"He was lucky to be there to score," Nancy said. "No (seriously), he provoked the situation, good for him. He was at the right place at a good moment. ... For me, this is more about what he did during the game. This is, for me, most important, offensively and defensively. The fact he scored, good for him."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew defeat Sporting KC in Leagues Cup round of 32: Takeaways
