Columbus Crew beats Los Angeles FC 3-1 in Leagues Cup final
Relive the celebration as the Columbus Crew defeated Los Angeles FC 3-1 in the Leagues Cup final, powered by two goals from striker Cucho Hernandez.
The conditions for the Crew’s game against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday at Lower.com Field are anything but ideal.
Because the game is being played during FIFA’s September international break, the Crew will be without seven players, including their two starting goalkeepers and leading scorer Cucho Hernandez, who are absent due to international duty. In addition, Columbus had to sacrifice its week off to reschedule the game for the CONCACAF Champions Cup final.
Nevertheless, coach Wilfried Nancy says he is looking forward to the upcoming game and is convinced that the team has the necessary depth to be competitive even without key players.
“That’s why we try to put together a squad like this,” Nancy said. “It’s going to be a good game for everyone. … Everyone (here at practice) is healthy and it’s going to be good.”
Each line in the Crew’s usual 3-4-3 formation will be without a starter, but the back line in particular suffered a setback when it was confirmed that Malte Amundsen was suspended for the Seattle game due to multiple yellow cards. In total, Amundsen has received six yellow cards during the regular season.
Amundsen and Steven Moreira, who was called up to the Cape Verde national team for the African World Cup qualifiers, were in the starting line-up alongside Rudy Camacho in most of the defenders’ games.
Camacho, who is available on Saturday, is not too worried about the absence of Amundsen and Moreira. He cites the 1-0 win against Philadelphia Union as an example of the defense’s performance without regular players. In the away game against Union, Nancy rested Camacho and Moreira and let Amundsen, Yevhen Cheberko and Sean Zawadzki start in defense.
“Steven (Moreira) is very important, but everyone on the team is important,” Camacho said. “You can see in training that even the players who are not playing, who are not used to playing, understand the concepts and are ready to play if they have to. So I never feel like we are going to lose the game because a few players are missing.”
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Who will start as goalkeeper in the Columbus Crew vs Seattle Sounders game?
With Patrick Schulte and Nicholas Hagen absent from the team due to international duty and Evan Bush still recovering from a broken arm, new signing Abraham Romero will start as goalkeeper against the Sounders.
Nancy explained that this was the reason for Romero’s transfer to Los Angeles FC on the last day of the second MLS transfer window.
“We knew this possibility could happen,” Nancy said. “So we wanted to be proactive. … The idea was to get a goalie who knows the league because he’s going to play from the start. So I think it was better to have a goalie like that for a moment.”
The Crew could have started either Crew 2 goalie Stas Lapkes or Cole Johnson by signing them to a short-term contract, and could also use either of them as a backup on Saturday. However, Romero’s experience in the Leagues Cup and U.S. Open Cup with LAFC has pushed him to the forefront of the rotation.
Saturday will be Romero’s first start since LAFC’s Leagues Cup group match against the Vancouver Whitecaps on July 30. After a 2-2 draw in regulation time, the Whitecaps defeated Los Angeles 4-2 on penalties.
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