The Los Angeles Football Club could not get their revenge on the Columbus Crew in their first meeting since the 2023 MLS Cup Final. Columbus remained relentless on offense throughout the match to earn a 5-1 victory over LAFC.
“I don’t think I can say anybody played to their potential today,” said LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo. “In games like this, that’s just not going to be enough regardless of the tactics, regardless of the strength of the teams.”
Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy talks about their 5-1 victory over LAFC (I don’t own the rights to this music) pic.twitter.com/I9bQwKYSQ5
— Amanda Scurlock (@Amandtastic) July 14, 2024
The LAFC lost to Columbus 2-1 in the 2023 MLS Cup Final. That match made Columbus head coach Wilfried Nancy the first Black head coach to win the MLS Cup. A native of France, Nancy noted how the task of beating LAFC has not been easy in both meetings.
“The task that we had was really difficult during the context of the situations,” Nancy said. “But my players found a way to be [themselves] and to play the way we wanted to play and to play really good sequences.”
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They managed to keep forward Dénis Bouanga from being effective, this took Columbus having confidence and trust, according to Nancy.
“I know that my team is able to stop those kinds of players and have a clear task about what we want to do defensively and offensively,” Nancy said. “And trust that they’re going to be able to do it by themselves and take ownership about this and this is what they did.”
LAFC had been undefeated at home and was on a 12-game winning streak prior to the match.
Columbus kept LAFC on defense for most of the first half, eagerly taking shots on target. The Black and Gold defended well until forward Christian Ramírez managed to find the back of the net at the 38th minute.
“You make a mistake once or twice early and then you’re always trying to play catch up,” said defender Ryan Hollingshead. “It’s a good moment for us in this part of the season to not take things for granted.”
Columbus carried their momentum into the second half where they scored two goals in four minutes. Forward Cucho Hernández scored in the 56th minute on an assist from defender Steven Moreira. On the 60th minute, forward Diego Rossi edged the score up to 3-0 with a goal from the center of the box.
“Nothing surprised us about Columbus, we knew exactly the kind of team that they are,” said midfielder Ilie Sànchez. “It’s very clear and specific the way they played. We just were not good enough with the ball, without the ball in transition.”
Bouanga shot on goal on the 79th minute but he was caught offside, voiding the goal. Shortly after, Bouanga was subbed out for San Fernando Valley native Nathan Ordaz. Remaining alert and agile, Ordaz responded to a save by goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, shooting on goal from the left side of the box in the 85th minute.
Ramírez earned his second goal of the night with a header from the box and midfielder Alexandru Matan shot from the left during the final third to raise the score to 5-1.
LAFC now has a 13-4-5 overall record, they will play Salt Lake on July 17 at 7:45P.M.
