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Columbus Crew tops LAFC to win MLS Cup with the exquisite soccer they trademarked all season

COLUMBUS, OHIO - DECEMBER 09: Yaw Yeboah #14 of Columbus Crew scores a goal against Maxime Crépeau #16 of Los Angeles FC during the first half during the 2023 MLS Cup at Lower.com Field on December 09, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
Columbus Crew midfielder Yaw Yeboah (14) scores a goal against Los Angeles FC Maxime Crépeau during the MLS Cup at Lower.com Field on December 09, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

The Columbus Crew won their third MLS title with a masterclass in bold, proactive soccer.

They won it Saturday at home with two goals, the second of which epitomized their 2023 transformation.

They bossed and battered LAFC, the defending champ, with high pressure and exquisite passing, all of which rose to the surface as one in the 36th and 37th minutes of a 2-1 win in a fantastic final.

The Crew already led 1-0 on a somewhat fluky but deserved penalty. They then strung together 11 passes to double their lead and put one final stamp on a season that was, definitively, theirs.

Their revolution began 12 months ago, after a second consecutive season without playoffs. They hired French coach Wilfried Nancy away from CF Montreal, and handed him keys to a well-aligned club. Nancy, an ideologue in a sport often ruled by pragmatists, arrived with a bold vision for how the Crew would play, whether or not they won — he sometimes calls it “a way of life.”

That vision materialized over nine-plus months, and delivered a championship. It culminated Saturday in front of a boisterous crowd that has helped fuel the bravery and belief that Nancy’s “way of life” requires. And it culminated most of all late in the first half.

An aggressive press allowed homegrown midfielder Aidan Morris to cut out an LAFC pass in the attacking third. Patient possession then dragged all but two LAFC players to the far side of the field. A crisp pass into the feet of striker Cucho Hernandez pulled Jesús Murillo toward the ball, away from his position as LAFC's right center back on the near side.

Two passes later, Malte Amundsen picked out the gap that Murillo had vacated. He broke two lines with one ingenious through-ball. And Yaw Yeboah put the visitors to bed before they could even get to the locker room for halftime, wobbling and wounded.

LAFC awoke periodically throughout the second half. It weathered the Columbus storm, then pulled a goal back with 16-plus minutes remaining. And it nearly exposed one flaw in the Crew’s brash approach, which often left them susceptible to blown leads and heartbreak throughout the regular season.

But not here.

Even with Denis Bouanga bearing down on them, with rain intensifying, and with nerves spiking, the Crew held on to win, 2-1. They initially pushed for a third goal; then they shut up shop, clung to their slender lead, took yellow cards when necessary, and became the third MLS franchise to claim three or more titles.

“We played our way," an emotional Nancy marveled postgame. "I’m so proud.”

Fireworks spouted from the top of Lower.com Field at the final whistle. A city exploded with joy that, six years ago, threatened to depart for good. For months in 2017 and 2018, Crew fans thought that their beloved team was moving to Austin, Texas; that a day like Saturday would become impossible.

Then-owner Anthony Precourt, MLS commissioner Don Garber and many others tried to make it so. They pulled with all their might, trying to snatch an MLS original away from its community.

But fans fought back. They and the Haslam family kept the club in Ohio. And they refurbished it into a born-again contender.

The Crew won a COVID-stained title in 2020. Then they sunk back out of the playoffs, so they parted ways with head coach Caleb Porter and paid a transfer fee for Nancy, their star offseason signing. Nancy spent the coming weeks and months reteaching players and purging well-drilled habits. He asked them to invite pressure onto themselves, to hold the ball rather than quickly ping it. Sometimes, he knew, they’d lose it and put their teammates in peril; he wanted them to accept the potential embarrassment.

He asked for their trust and courage, because all of this, he knew, would manipulate opponents and produce splendid soccer. It could remake a mediocre team into a prolific one. It could invigorate fans and guide Columbus back to the top of Major League Soccer.

And that's precisely what it did.

The Crew led MLS in goals, chance creation, possession and entertainment throughout 2023. They hunted the ball, and passed it perilously, baiting opponents out of position. Sometimes they knew they’d look silly. They’d turn the ball over. They'd leave themselves exposed. They did both of those things in last Saturday's Eastern Conference Final in Cincinnati.

But they dug themselves out of a 2-0 hole. They won 3-2 that night, and seven days later, they simply kept rising.

They rose because they believed in Nancy's vision. They believed that they could play like no other MLS team had ever played, that they might even be able to revolutionize the league.

They believed because Nancy inspired them. Because he convinced them long ago that faith would bring triumphs, and that, as he said immediately after Saturday's victory: "Impossible is an opinion."

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  • First-year head coach Wilfried Nancy after the win: "Impossible is an opinion. ... We play our way. I'm so proud. Yes, we won. But as a coach for me the most important is not about winning. I told them, today, because when they were a kid, they wanted to win already. The idea is to have a clear vision and create connection with people, but also as a team."

  • THAT'S GAME! THE COLUMBUS CREW ARE THREE-TIME MLS CUP CHAMPIONS!

  • We've made it to stoppage time with 7 minutes added. Will LAFC strike again or will Columbus hold on for the title?

  • There is absolutely another goal in this. The Crew aren't just going to sit back and try to hold their slim lead.

    They are, to some extent, going to continue playing their game — which produce a third goal, or an LAFC equalizer.

  • You always knew LAFC was going to get a few chances. They're now coming with increasing frequency.

    But they're coming and going. One is going to have to yield a goal, and soon, to make Columbus really worry.

  • What a clearance from Palacios. So close to 3-0 and game over.

  • Anatomy of a wondergoal

    The Crew's second goal gets better and better every time you watch it. Here's how it happened:

    • High pressure creates a turnover in the attacking third

    • Patient possession drags all but two LAFC players to the far side of the field

    • A pass into the feet of striker Cucho Hernandez drags Jesús Murillo toward the ball, away from his position as LAFC's right center back.

    • With the 11th pass of the possession, Malte Admundson picks out the gap that Murillo vacated, and...

    • Boom. 2-0.

  • Team stats at halftime: Crew 2-0 LAFC

    Crew-LAFC MLS Cup final
    Crew-LAFC MLS Cup final
  • Games decided by penalties always feel cruel. So the Crew just picked apart LAFC to double their lead and change the narrative.

    Yaw Yeboah scored the goal. But it was a visionary, double-line-breaking pass from Malte Amundsen — perhaps one of the best assists in MLS all season — that made the goal and epitomized the Crew's brilliance.

  • Yeboah quickly doubles the Crew's lead! It's 2-0 Columbus

  • Crew gets a penalty in the 31st minute after a handball.

  • Precisely the game we expected

    LAFC has hardly ventured into the attacking third.

    Columbus has had 71% of the ball.

    But that doesn't necessarily mean this game is one-sided. It's tilted, for sure; and the Crew have been the better of the two teams. But the tilt is a function of contrasting styles. Columbus is proactively searching for game-changing moments. LA is sitting back and waiting for them.

    The former always looks more impressive. The latter can sometimes be just as effective. For all of Columbus' apparent dominance, neither side has a shot on goal.

  • Stats after 16 minutes with Crew so far dominating possession.

    Crew-LAFC
    Crew-LAFC
  • Giorgio Chiellini, a longtime Serie A star, looked semi-washed soon after he arrived in MLS last season. But he's had a renaissance this year, and we just saw an excellent example of why.

    Perfect positioning. Checked his shoulder, detected Diego Rossi lurking in the penalty area as the Crew broke forward, and cut out a dangerous Cucho Hernandez cross.

  • A fascinating final is about to begin

    This presents as a fantastic MLS Cup final. Reigning champ vs. small-market success story. And a fascinating clash of soccer ideologies.

    On one side, LAFC adapts its style match-to-match to subdue and punish opponents.

    On the other side, Columbus doesn't change for anybody. The Crew will play their bold, ball-dominant game no matter who's opposite them.

    When asked this week whether that approach might change for LAFC, and for a final, head coach Wilfried Nancy was blunt: "No."

  • The MLS Cup champions will be crowned Saturday with LAFC facing the Columbus Crew in the final.
    The MLS Cup champions will be crowned Saturday with LAFC facing the Columbus Crew in the final.