Cucho Hernandez extends scoring streak in 5-1 victory over New England: 3 Takeaways
At this point last month, Cucho Hernandez's status was in question before every match leading up to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final, as the Crew striker recovered from a back injury. Now, Hernandez is riding a four-game scoring streak, with six goals across those four matches.
Hernandez started to experience back pain following the Crew's 2-1 loss to FC Cincinnati on May 11 and missed the rest of the club's MLS games in May before returning to action in the Champions Cup title match on June 1.
Since then, Hernandez has been on a tear, and in Columbus' 5-1 road victory against New England Revolution, he scored the first of five unanswered goals.
"Good for him because he scores goals, but also he makes assists," said Crew coach Wilfried Nancy. "He was sad because he was on the side, regarding the back pain that he had, and he wanted to come back and help the team. This is what he's doing."
Hernandez recorded assists on the goals of midfielder Max Arfsten and forward Diego Rossi against New England, which gave Columbus a 3-1 lead going into halftime. It was a much-needed response after the Revolution scored on an Emmanuel Boateng goal in the ninth minute of play.
At halftime, the Crew discussed staying on pace and remaining aggressive. Then they went out and executed with two more goals, these coming from center backs Rudy Camacho and Steven Moreira.
"I know I can score," Camacho said. "We can all score. We showed it with Steven scoring too from the defense. Everybody can score, we are all able to score, and we showed that we're a strong team."
Here are three takeaways from Columbus' road victory vs the Caleb Porter-led New England Revolution:
Cucho Hernandez's impact beyond scoring goals
Hernandez is leading the Crew in goals this season with 10 despite the games he missed due to injury and a two-match suspension earlier this season. He is also tied for third with Arfsten in assists. Hernandez has recorded four assists during regular-season play, two coming against New England.
"He gives us so much obviously," Arfsten said. "Everyone knows how he can score goals, but he also attracts a lot of the attention. ... His presence alone sometimes creates space for other people."
Setting the tone with a goal in the 17th minute, Hernandez kept New England from gaining momentum during its short-lived lead and provided his teammates with a model for how to break through the Revolution's backline.
"They were playing man-to-man," Camacho said. "So, difficult for them to keep this kind of play all game. If they made one mistake or they lose one dribble, they conceded a goal, and this is what happened. Cucho had a great game."
Rudy Camacho's first-ever goal with Columbus Crew
Since arriving in Columbus via a trade with CF Montreal in August, Camacho has been a dominating presence among the center backs. He's taller than his defensive teammates at 6-foot-1 and is able to make physical plays.
Having coached Camacho during his time in Montreal, Nancy said he knew the defender also had offensive abilities. Those were on display in the second half against New England when he scored his first goal with the Crew off a corner kick in the second half, to give Columbus a 4-1 lead.
"It's been a long time coming," Nancy said. "Usually, he likes to score between two, three or four goals per year, I would say if I'm not mistaken. It was a good goal to give us the possibility to breathe a little bit more."
Ramirez-Hernandez-Rossi frontline chemistry
Nancy has consistently rotated up front, sending out different mixes of Columbus' six established forwards. Only Rossi has appeared in every match this season.
For the last two matches, against New England and Sporting Kansas City a week earlier, Nancy has relied on the frontline of Hernandez, Rossi and Christian Ramirez to start. In those two games, at least one of those three has had a hand in seven of the Crew's nine goals.
On Rossi's goal in first-half stoppage time, both Hernandez and Ramirez were credited with an assist, as Ramirez was the one who found Hernandez near the left corner of New England's box before Hernandez sent a pass to a crashing Rossi.
"This is something (chemistry) that they have together," Nancy said. "There are certain things that I cannot coach. There are feelings, there is a sensitivity, they do it well. ... This is a good option for me."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew score five unanswered vs New England: Takeaways
