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Columbus Crew's lack of offense gives LAFC advantage in Champions Cup series: Takeaways
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- Columbus Crew's lack of offense gives LAFC advantage in Champions Cup series: Takeaways
The Crew did themselves no favors in their first CONCACAF Champions Cup game of 2025.
Starting their two-game round-of-16 series Tuesday against Los Angeles FC on the road, the Crew lost 3-0.
It was the Crew's first true test of the season, as they opened the MLS regular season facing two teams that finished a combined 16-39-13 and were in the bottom two spots for the Eastern Conference last year.
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Twenty minutes into the game, LAFC striker Denis Bouanga capitalized on an uncharacteristic moment of weakness from the 2024 MLS Defender of the Year Steven Moreira.
Columbus Crew replay: Columbus Crew fall behind 3-0 vs LAFC in CONCACAF Champions Cup series
Bouanga scored his second goal at the 46-minute mark, with substitute Nathan Ordaz icing the game for LAFC with a goal.
While the Crew's defense struggled to shut down Bouanga, it was the Crew's offense that really fell short.
"At certain moments, we didn't have good position," Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said. "We tried to fix it. Second half, we tried to push, but again, they defended well and we were not able to attack the box really well. This was the situation."
Crew midfielder Aziel Jackson controls the ball against LAFC midfielder Marco Delgado on Tuesday.
The Crew recorded just one shot on goal, with the starting front line of Dylan Chambost , Aziel Jackson and Diego Rossi being virtually shut down.
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Midfielder Max Arfsten had the most shot attempts, taking three in his 26 minutes of play, and midfielder Taha Habroune had the only shot on goal in the 66th minute.
The impact of Columbus Crew losing Cucho Hernandez, Christian Ramirez was evident
The Crew are no strangers to Bouanga finding success against them.
The former MLS Golden Boot winner who won the award in 2023 with a league-leading 29 goals during the regular season, scored LAFC's lone goal in the 2023 MLS Cup matchup.
But the Crew used to have an answer for the offensive success of Bouanga and LAFC.
In the past three meetings before this year, Columbus outscored LAFC 10-3 and won all of the matchups. All of those games were with Cucho Hernandez and Christian Ramirez on the team, and they who combined for six of those goals.
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Only two of the goals against LAFC in recent matchups were scored by a current Crew roster members - Rossi and Jacen Russell-Rowe.
Crew forward Diego Rossi takes a shot against LAFC defender Marlon on Tuesday.
Rossi had two shots attempts on Tuesday, his first being arguably the best look for the Crew, but it went over the goal. Russell-Rowe was unable to produce any offense from off the bench.
"I think that we struggled in terms of connection," Nancy said. "We have to connect and have a good first touch and combine. ... Also, we lost a few balls that usually we don't lose."
Columbus Crew's best performance came from goalkeeper Patrick Schulte , despite conceded goals
Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte had the strongest performance for the Crew, recording six saves on nine shots on goal, but he was burned on a defensive mistake and two strong finishes in his three conceded goals.
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Bouanga's first goal was the fault of Moreira. Moreira was attempting start an offensive drive, holding the ball right outside the Crew's box, when Bouanga counterattacked and stole the ball.
With Moreira struggling to catch up and Schulte out of position, Bouanga easily finished the play.
"The first one, obviously Steven wanted to do better, but that's the way we want to play," Schulte said. "We want to play with the ball, so we know mistakes are going to happen. We have to move forward with that."
Schulte credited Bouanga's second goal and Ordaz's as "unbelievable" finishes, with both flying past Schulte before he could attempt to make a save.
Los Angeles FC forward Denis Bouanga scored two goals in LAFC's first-leg win against the Crew.
Failing to score any road goals makes Columbus Crew's chances of advancing even slimmer
The Crew are firmly pushed back against a wall going into the second leg of the series, forced to score at least four goals to advance without penalty kicks.
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With Champions Cup series being decided on aggregate goals (most goals in the series), the Crew will be eliminated with a draw or loss in Tuesday's second leg. They Crew will also be eliminated if they fail to win the second leg by more than four goals.
The only scenario that Columbus could survive with a three-goal victory is if LAFC is held scoreless. In any other three-goal victory, LAFC would win the first tiebreaker - away goals.
A 3-0 score in favor of the Crew would force overtime, and if remained tied after two overtime periods, a penalty-kick shootout.
"We've had some great comebacks," Crew midfielder DeJuan Jones said. "I think back to the Leagues Cup game against Miami . We're down 2-0 and we scored three goals in the second half. With 90 minutes, we can easily score three goals."
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The second leg is at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lower.com Field.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew down 3-0 vs LAFC in CONCACAF Champions Cup: Takeaways
