Columbus Crew top LAFC to win franchise's third MLS Cup

brianna mac kay, columbus dispatch

Sun, Dec 10, 2023, 5:09 AM·4 min read

Just three short years after claiming their second MLS Cup in front of only 1,500 people, the Columbus Crew are champions once again.

In front of a record-breaking crowd of 20,802 at Lower.com Field, the Crew defeated the 2022 MLS Cup winners, Los Angeles FC, 2-1 for the third championship in club history. It's a historic victory for the league as the Crew's Wilfried Nancy is now the first Black head coach to win an MLS Cup.

From the start of the match, the Crew played their own game, protecting themselves from LAFC's counterattack. Columbus was careful when in control of the ball, stopping passes right away to avoid turnovers.

As expected, the Crew dominated LAFC with over 68% possession in the first half. When in possession of the ball, the Crew kept moving up field, and had some opportunities with shots on goal that were slightly off.

The Crew's ability to keep pushing towards the box finally paid off in the 33rd minute when a handball from LAFC's Diego Palacios in the penalty area set up a Cucho Hernandez penalty kick.

"Really, I was nervous," Hernadez said. Hernadez continued via a translator, "I've taken seven or eight penalties this season, but this was the one I was nervous for. But I knew I couldn't miss it."

As LAFC goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau went right, Hernandez, who was named the game's MVP, sent the ball towards the left post and found the back of the net, giving the Crew an early 1-0 lead.

Columbus Crew forward Cucho Hernandez celebrates his goal on a penalty shot.

Following the Crew's first goal of the game, the rain started coming down and it would be on and off throughout the whole match. Making the ball move faster, the rain played to the Crew's advantage according to Yaw Yeboah.

"This is how we play," Yeboah said. "Especially like me, I want the ball to go faster because I'm more faster with a ball like that."

With the rain continuing to fall, Malte Amundsen found Yeboah with a pass from halfway up the field. Yeboah, who had been running up the left side looking for something to land at his feet all match, was able to collect the ball and tap it past Crepeau to put the Crew ahead 2-0 in the 37th minute.

"As soon as I had the ball, I was like 'let me just take it,'" Yeboah said. "I've been doing this movement the whole year."

Coming out after halftime, things got dirty as some rough hits from LAFC led to the visiting team receiving two yellow cards early in the second half.

A little over 10 minutes into the second half, Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte made a big save with a shot on goal for LAFC coming from Carlos Vela. Up until that point, Schulte had only faced one attempt in the first half.

Schulte continued to have his work cut out for him, with LAFC getting a couple of good looks on goal. In the 74th minute of the match, Denis Bouanga had an attempt that Schulte saved off his face, but Bouanga was able to follow his shot and got the ball past the Crew's goalkeeper for LAFC's first goal of the night.

The hit to the face caused a delay in the match at the 76-minute mark as Schulte was down for a bit of time, but he was able to get up and remain in the game.

"This is the new Patrick," Nancy said of his goalkeeper's resilience. "He is really mature for his age. So, that's why he was able to be consistent the last 10 games."

The score would stay put at 2-1 following Schulte's hit, and by the 83rd minute, Nancy started to put subs in the game, including key players from earlier playoff matches such as Christian Ramirez and Julian Gressel.

By the time the final whistle blew to end regulation, the Crew were once again on top at Lower.com Field and were able to bring home the victory.

"It's amazing," Yeboah said. "To play at home and get a win for the fans and our families and us, is amazing because that's exactly what we wanted."