New year, same outcome.
In a rematch of MLS Cup 2023, the Columbus Crew reminded LAFC who the reigning champions are on Saturday night with a dominant 5-1 victory at BMO Stadium that ended the Black & Gold's 10-game unbeaten run.
In handing LAFC their largest home loss in club history, the Crew have now built a five-game winning streak of their own.
“I’m really happy because the task that we had was very difficult, knowing the context, knowing the situations. But my players found a way to be ourselves and to play the way we wanted to play and to play really good sequences, but also to be disgusting to play against,” Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy said postgame. “This is something that I like, so I’m happy because it was a good level.”
Cucho & Co. lead the way
It was the most in-form trio in MLS leading their team to victory again on Saturday, with Christian Ramírez bagging a brace and Diego Rossi scoring against his former team. And, as he did in MLS Cup, Cucho Hernández was the Crew’s main man, hitting a stunning first-time strike from just outside the box to put Columbus up 2-0 in the 56th minute. The first-time MLS All-Star is up 12 goals and 8 assists on the season with his 1g/1a outing against LAFC, joining Jeff Cunningham (2001-02) and Stern John (1998-99) as the only Crew players to record at least 20 goal contributions in consecutive seasons.
“History is the best thing to do,” said the 25-year-old. “That history is great. I’m so happy because the club believes in me. I have to keep going and doing this because it is my work. I've said this before: it is my work to score, to assist, to win, and I have to keep going.
Nancy focused on Columbus
The commanding nature of the Crew’s win will also make waves in U.S. men's national team circles due to Nancy and LAFC manager Steve Cherundolo popping up as prominent candidates for the newly vacant head coaching job. Safe to say, Saturday's result was much more beneficial for one of them.
"I don't talk about rumors, simple as that,” Nancy responded when asked about the chatter linking him to the USMNT job. “Like I said, I am limitless. I want to be limitless so the idea is to push myself, to challenge myself, but at the moment I'm here. I'm happy here. We'll see in the future."
Budding rivalry
Beyond the intriguing coaching prism, a unique rivalry has formed between the league's last two champions. Even with no trophies on the line, an LAFC-Columbus Crew match has become required viewing.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult game. The [MLS Cup] final wasn’t that long ago honestly, and you could feel it tonight,” Cucho said. “I think we felt the rivalry. It’s a great MLS rivalry because both teams have shown to be among [the league’s] best. That’s what the numbers say, not me."
At least for now, the numbers also say that Columbus run this rivalry.
"We played an incredible game," Cucho said. "We did very well."
