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Columbus Crew beats Los Angeles FC 3-1 to win Leagues Cup

Vaseline August 26, 2024

Enjoy this Crew team, Columbus. They defy all belief. How long can this last?

In a rematch of the 2023 MLS Cup final, the Crew defeated Los Angeles FC 3-1 before a sellout crowd of 20,192 at the new Crew Stadium on Sunday night. It was a heavyweight matchup with the Leagues Cup on the line. It was the champions of the flyover states versus the Hollywood stars, with two of the best coaches in MLS – the Crew’s Wilfried Nancy and LAFC’s Steve Cherundolo – matching wits.

Cucho Hernandez and the Crew came out covered in confetti. Hernandez scored in the final minute of the first half, potting the winning goal in the 92^nd minute and assisted Jacen Russell-Rowe’s thank-you goal in the 94^and minute. And Nancy cried.

“I had incredible emotions,” Nancy said. “All those goals, I think it’s great because we score in different ways. I asked them to go and go and still attack, and they did well. I have no words.”

The league’s Cup isn’t a pretty trophy, but it’s a trophy that MLS commissioner Don Garber was on hand to present. Garber was greeted as warmly as ever in Columbus. It was all part of the general din of an incredibly aural evening. After Hernandez scored the game-winning goal in second-half stoppage time, Crew captain Darlington Nagbe was seen covering his ears as he sauntered back into midfield. Yes, it was that loud.

The Crew under Nancy have become a force to be reckoned with on the continent. They took the MLS Cup title from LAFC in December. They reached the Champions Cup final – beating Tigres and Monterrey along the way – before Pachuca and food poisoning beat them in the final. Now they’ve beaten LAFC to win the Leagues Cup. That’s three finals and two trophies in just over nine months.

The Crew now has nine trophies in their display case: three MLS Cups (2008, 2020, 2023), three Supporters’ Shields (2004, 2008, 2009), a US Open Cup (2002), a Leagues Cup (2024) and a Campeones Cup (2021). On Sunday night, they became the first team in MLS to win the USOC, MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield and Leagues Cup.

On September 25, the Crew will host one more Campeones Cup match, against Liga MX champions Club America. After that, the Crew will focus on chasing a Supporters’ Shield (they are the outsider in a six-team race) and attempting to defend their MLS Cup title. While Crew general manager Issa Tall added depth to the squad during the recent transfer window, they will face a tough challenge, likely on tired legs.

“I would never write this team off,” Tall said. “They continue to amaze us. Every time they’re on the ropes or in a hold, they always dig themselves out. We’re going to enjoy this because it’s a product of the work they do every day, individually and collectively. We’re going to enjoy it for two days. Then we’ll refocus.”

Cherundolo had a game plan to thwart the Crew’s high-scoring, possession-and-attack system. In the first half, LAFC sat back, ceded possession and invited the Crew to exhaust themselves. Just before halftime, Mo Farsi whipped in a small cross to a spot just above the penalty area and Hernandez ran in for a blistering header. LAFC defender Ilie Sanchez walked away with Continental Tire tracks on his back. Cherundolo criticized poor marking in the box.

In the second half, LAFC came out with an aggressive, high-pressure offense, jumping on every Crew misstep. Their studs did their job: In the 56^and minute, Denis Bouanga served up a wicked corner that Olivier Giroud—France’s all-time leading scorer in international play, a World Cup winner and LA’s shiny new Designated Player—finished with authority. Giroud may be 37, but the Arsenal legend is still 6-foot-3, 200-pounds, and his headers have a heat trail.

Nancy blamed himself for moving his magnet board buttons to the wrong places in the second half, when the Crew took a more defensive stance. Then Nancy remembered who he was. He doesn’t coach the scoreboard. He attacks. He made some smart substitutions—including Russell-Rowe for forward Christian Ramirez and Alex Matan for midfielder Sean Zawadzi—and moved his magnets. The Crew attacked.

“We had them on the ropes,” Cherundolo said. “We had some (mistakes) on defense again. And that’s the difference — two minutes into the game where we weren’t awake, and they were.”

Man, it looked like this thing was headed straight for penalties. The stadium was pulsing with decibels of nervous energy. Then Hernandez struck in the 92^nd minute: He curled the ball from outside the top left corner of the penalty area with the aim of finding Russell-Rowe’s head; LAFC goalkeeper, Tottenham legend Hugo Lloris, 37, a World Cup winner, was caught between reading a header and playing the ball; Hernandez’s cross was too high for Russell-Rowe but deflected off the far post.

Two minutes later, Hernandez and Russell-Rowe raced onto the field in a clearly lethal two-on-one counterattack. Hernandez pulled the defender and passed to Russell-Rowe, who picked the right spot to beat Lloris. As Nancy wept, marveling at the selflessness of his star player, more than a few LAFC players dropped to their knees and buried their faces in the grass. They had lost yet another important game in Columbus.

“I’m so proud of everyone, as individuals and as people – the players, the coaches, the staff,” Tall said. “It’s daunting to play every three or four days (during this month’s Leagues Cup). They’ve dug so deep. I’m proud of the fans. In Columbus, when you walk around town, you don’t see Manchester City flags or Barcelona flags in front of the houses, you see Crew flags. It just amazes us.”

If you are a Crew fan, this was another moment you will not forget. Moments like this seem to come in a cascade now. How long can it last? Enjoy.

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