Columbus Crew caught falling behind FC Cincinnati in 2-1 home loss: 2 takeaways
It was a performance that Wilfried Nancy has rarely seen out of the Crew in his less than two seasons coaching in Columbus.
On Saturday, the Crew were handed their first MLS regular-season home loss in over a year, falling to FC Cincinnati 2-1, allowing their Hell is Real rival to pick up its first ever victory in Columbus. Beyond disappointment, what Nancy felt after the loss was the Crew had a "lack of urgency" on the field.
"I have a weird feeling about this game," Nancy said. "It was like we were trying to catch up to what we usually do, and it can happen, that sometimes we can be a bit off."
Any missed connections for the Crew were balanced out by the fact there was a zero on the scoreboard next to each team's name during the first 70 minutes of the match.
At the 74-minute mark, things began to come undone for Columbus.
Cincinnati midfielder Luciano Acosta took advantage of the Crew's mismanagement of the ball within their own box and was able to find teammate Kevin Kelsy in front of an open net. Off Acosta's pass, Kelsy took a header shot to score the first goal of the night.
"We made many, many mistakes on the first goal," Nancy said. "We had the ball, and we lost the ball many times (due to) decision making. And after that, they came into the box so easily."
Less than three minutes later, it was Acosta's turn to score himself, as the reigning MLS MVP gave Cincinnati a 2-0 lead, a damming blow in the game for Columbus.
The goal from late-game substitution Max Arfsten in the 89th minute gave Columbus a bit of a resurgence going into stoppage time. The Crew had multiple solid opportunities to score, including two shots on goal, during the final six minutes of play, but it was too little too late in the grand scheme of the match.
Replay: Columbus Crew fall to FC Cincinnati 2-1 in first MLS home loss since April 2023
Here are the top takeaways from the loss to FC Cincinnati:
Crew were never truly in control of the ball until the Max Arfsten goal
Nancy described it as the "story of the game."
Columbus would be in control of the ball, and instead of taking the time to assess the situation, attacked without a second thought, which resulted in giving the ball back to Cincinnati.
"It made it a little bit disjointed between the whole team," said Crew midfielder Sean Zawadzki. "Because we had the attacking guys getting in towards the box, and for the defensive guys, it was a little bit of a delay getting up to support them and help them out."
Cincinnati's defense made attacking difficult for the Crew, especially in the first half, when they were using a man-marking tactic to tightly defend. That combined with Cincinnati's high press created problems for Columbus.
From Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte's standpoint, the Crew looked "switched off" from the jump. Their inability to keep control of the ball within their own box led to the Kelsy goal in the second half.
"We had struggled keeping the ball," Schulte said. "I think that really frustrated us, we were kind of rushing things a little bit too much. And I think, not having the ball came into play and we were trying to force things that probably didn't need to be forced."
FC Cincinnati threw Patrick Schulte off his game
No matter what happened before the two goals Cincinnati scored, Schulte is taking responsibility for conceding both of them.
On the Acosta goal, the 23-year-old goalkeeper found himself in a position that he's usually able to avoid. With two different options to attempt a stop, Schulte instead froze and took neither, giving Acosta an uncontested shot.
"He's a good player, he's going to make things happen," Schulte said. "I got kind of caught in no man's land. I got to either close when he beat Steven (Moreira) or just trust my reactions staying back."
Prior to the goals, there were instances where Cincinnati caught Schulte off-guard and forced mistakes that could had caused a steeper loss for the Crew if their opponent capitalized.
Acknowledging that this was far from his best performance, Schulte planned on texting veteran goalkeeper and mentor Evan Bush after leaving Lower.com to talk about his mistakes during the match. Bush, a usual source of advice and guidance for Schulte within the Crew's goalkeeper group, has been off the gameday roster and subsequently Columbus' sideline with a wrist injury.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Takeaways from Columbus Crew loss to Cincinnati in Hell is Real match
