He Columbus Crew This Saturday he was proclaimed champion of MLS Cup by winning the final 2-1 against Los Angeles FC (LAFC), who won this title last year. Colombian Juan Camilo ‘Cucho’ Hernández, from a penalty, and Yaw Yeboah scored goals for the Ohio team (USA), while Denis Bouanga, the top scorer in MLS this year, scored goal for Angelenos.
This is the third MLS Cup title for the Columbus Crew after the ones they won in 2008 and 2020. The team coached by Wilfried Nancy and which has other outstanding Latin players such as the Uruguayan Diego Rossi thus concludes a amazing career in the playoffs. ‘ of the MLS, where they eliminated Atlanta United of Argentine Thiago Almada, Orlando City of Uruguayan Facundo Torres and Cincinnati of Argentine Luciano Acosta, who were the best in the regular season.
For its part, LAFC, which in 2022 won the double with the MLS Cup and the MLS Supporters’ Shield, closed another disappointment in an exhausting and very demanding year in which it achieved glory in many different other competitions without ever lifting the trophy.
The team led by Mexican Carlos Vela, whose continuation in Los Angeles is questionable, lost in the final of the Concacaf Champions League against León, fell in the quarterfinals of the Leagues Cup against Monterrey, lost in the Campeones Cup for Tigres UANL and now he took a knee in the MLS Cup final against the Columbus Crew.
Vela did not participate in Saturday’s post-match press conference, but a few days ago he spoke about his future in a media address. “My contract says, I’m free on Sunday, that’s all that’s clear to me. Then, everyone knows that I’m happy in Los Angeles, with this team, but this is work, business. We know that. not everyone things always go the way you want them to. We may have different views, we should be on the same page,” said the Mexican.
With heavy rain at times in a packed Lower.com Field stadium in Columbus and in an extraordinary atmosphere, the match began with two teams very involved in the roles expected of them: the locals who monopolized the ball and were very aggressive in the field rival. and the visitors taking cover at the back and looking for a counterattack.
The Columbus Crew controlled the first half from start to finish, with authority and great confidence in all their lines, and also nullified LAFC’s quick transition. Their three forward men (‘Cucho’, Rossi and Alexandru Matan) constantly and dangerously changed their positions to confuse LAFC’s defense, which soon began to show cracks to cover its flanks .
‘Cucho’ tried both sides and in the 23rd minute he unleashed a superb shot from distance that missed Crépeau’s right post. Four minutes later, Rossi tried from the top of the area and his shot went into the left side of his former team’s goal. After a half hour of undeniable dominance, the Columbus Crew found reward for their efforts with a penalty for Ecuadorian Diego Palacios’ handball that ‘Cucho’ sent into the net in the 33rd minute.
Four fatal minutes for Californians
The goal left LAFC very shaken, and they suffered another blow just four minutes later. Malte Amundsen pulled a beautiful and precise pass out of his hat for Yeboah, who beat Ryan Hollingshead’s back and finished brilliantly past Crepeau with his left foot.
The bad news piled up for the team led by Steve Cherundolo: Bouanga and Vela were missing and their best player in the first half was Colombian center back Jesús Murillo. However, Bouanga’s first appearance, which was in stoppage time, almost missed the net, as he gave the ball to Uruguayan Cristian Olivera and his cross was about to end up in an own goal for the Columbus Crew.
The half-time lead was impressive but the Columbus Crew had the ultimate lesson learned: they themselves came back from 2-0 down against Cincinnati last week to end up winning 2-3 in extra time.
So, ‘Cucho’ and Yeboah, both headaches for LAFC, came back into the fray after the restart and narrowly missed the third goal which was almost the sentence. LAFC did not find a way to impose its law, to challenge the dominance of the Columbus Crew, and only reached the rival area with the separate actions of Vela and Bouanga.
The Gabonese striker flirted with goal with a great look down the left, but his cross went wide of the goal without any of his teammates getting a foot in it. Bouanga got it right in the 74th minute. Murillo admirably anticipated Rossi in an advanced pressure, launched the counterattack and Bouanga, who missed a very clear shot, was able to convert the rebound.
It seemed that LAFC was going to launch a frontal and massive siege in the last part, but the Columbus Crew remained so good in the end that it hardly had any fears and took the title and unleashed euphoria on its fans.
DATA SHEET
2 – Columbus Crew: Schulte; Moreira, Camacho, Amundsen; Farsi (Ramírez, m.86), Nagbe (Zawadzki, m.84), Morris, Yeboah (Cheberko, m.83); Matan, Cucho (Gressel, m.85), Rossi (Molino, m.91)
1 – LAFC: crepes; Hollingshead, Murillo, Chiellini, Palacios (Palencia, d.87); Tillman (Bogusz, m.60), Sánchez (González, m.87), Acosta (Krastev, m.76); Olivera, Vela, Bouanga
The objectives: 1-0, ‘Cucho’ Hernández, from a penalty (m. 33); 2-0, Yeboah (m. 37); 2-1, Bouanga (m. 74)
Referee: Armando Villarreal. He warned Amundsen, Rossi and Morris at Columbus Crew and Vela, Tillman, Sánchez and Palacios at LAFC.
Incidents: The MLS Cup final was played at Lower.com Field in Columbus (Ohio, USA) before 20,082 spectators
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
