The Columbus Crew rules Los Angeles FC when it comes to trophies.

Columbus defeated LAFC 3-1 in the 2024 Leagues Cup final on Sunday at Lower.com Field, repeating a victory over the same opponent from December’s MLS Cup championship game. The game was in doubt until stoppage time, when Crew star Cucho Hernández went into takeover mode.

He scored the decisive goal from outside the penalty area in the 92nd minute and then assisted Jacen Russell-Rowe’s goal in the 94th minute to remove any doubt. It was also Hernández who opened the scoring for the winners in the first half.

It was more of the same for Columbus against LAFC, as it also easily defeated the Western Conference team in a 5-1 victory in a regular season match in July. Even the addition of Olivier Giroud, who scored LAFC’s lone goal, couldn’t change the outcome when these two teams faced off.

The fact that these clubs know each other so well makes sense given their paths through the Leagues Cup pool, which can be found on the tournament’s official website. While the Leagues Cup includes MLS and Liga MX teams, Los Angeles and Columbus did not face a team from Mexico in the knockout rounds.

LAFC defeated familiar opponents in Austin, San Jose, Seattle and Colorado, while the Crew defeated Sporting Kansas City, Inter Miami, New York City FC and Philadelphia.

It set the tone for Sunday’s showdown and Columbus grabbed all the attention before kick-off when head coach Wilfried Nancy decided to field goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen instead of his usual choice, Patrick Schulte.

Hugo Lloris was Hagen’s equal for the visitors, and it was the veteran who conceded the first goal when Mohamed Farsi deftly navigated the LAFC defence to tap in a cross for Hernández. The Crew star buried the chance with a header just before halftime to put the Western Conference team in comeback mode.

LAFC weren’t in comeback mode for long in the second half, however, as Giroud diverted a corner to score his first goal for his new club. The momentum had already shifted before the equalizer, as Mateusz Bogusz looked to level the game, but was ruled offside.

The visitors maintained that momentum for much of the second half, with Lloris converting a great chance for Christian Ramírez just in front of the net.

But Hernández, who had also set up the goal for Ramírez, was inevitable and gave his team another trophy.