OBETZ, Ohio – Ola Kamara is on fire.
The Columbus Crew SC striker has scored seven goals in his last five matches, starting with his debut goal in a hat-trick performance in just his third MLS start May 28 in a 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake.
Thanks to his hot streak, the Norwegian striker is averaging more than a goal per 90 minutes, the highest average in MLS among players with more than 180 minutes.
He’s pleased with that rate, and credits his teammates with giving him the service he needs.
“Right now, the balls are coming to the areas I want them to come, so that’s why I can score some goals,” he said. “The average [per 90 minutes] has been quite good, so I’m happy with that.”
Like his predecessor Kei Kamara, Ola is scoring from a plethora of one-touch finishes that the Columbus offense creates. He says he doesn’t mind scoring those kinds of goals, and is simply putting himself in the correct positions.
“I’m a box player; I like to be in that space and run into that space,” he said. “When the balls are coming, I can finish them with one touch. As a striker, as a number nine, these are the goals you have to make. It’s not like you get the ball in the middle and dribble five people and score. You’re not in that position. I have to be in that position and count that my teammates can feed me. Right now, they’re doing that.”
Head coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter says he’s surprised Kamara’s streak isn’t garnering more headlines.
“I’m surprised there hasn’t been more about it, to be honest, [because of] his goal rate so far,” Berhalter said. “I think it’s phenomenal. It’s the best in the league right now, and I’m surprised there’s not more talk about it. They’re good goals. He puts himself in good positions and he gets high-quality chances every single game. I think he’s doing great.”
Kamara’s success creates a dilemma for Berhalter, however.
Columbus’s only other forward on the roster is veteran Conor Casey, who has been battling injury for weeks. Berhalter has admitted before that he’ll need to reinforce the team’s striker depth in the summer window, but he says Kamara has staked his claim on the starting job.
“You want every player to come in and earn a starting position; you don’t want them to be given anything,” Berhalter said. “[Kamara] was given it by default, but he also earned it. He’s taken the position extremely seriously, he’s worked extremely hard and he’s gotten results. He’s definitely earned a starting position on this team.”
Kamara laughed at the idea that there had been speculation about another striker. The confident Norwegian said he’s not paying attention to transfer talk.
“I always came here to get that spot,” he said. “I don’t follow how everyone else talks, but right now there’s probably no other striker that has that average. So that’s my take on it.”
And despite equaling Kei’s season-long output in just six starts – and being able to say the pair were tied off the top of his head – Ola says he isn’t comparing himself to his old teammate, and isn’t rooting against him.
“I think it’s cool that he’s scoring like when he was here,” Ola said of Kei, now with the New England Revolution. “I liked the guy; I ate dinner at his house. For me, it’s not that kind of competition that people want it to be. … But I see the fun in it.”
The pair will have a chance to face off for the first time on Saturday, when Crew SC visit the Revs (7:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE Game of the Week).
