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Can Crew's Daniel Gazdag continue building momentum without Wessam Abou Ali, Diego Rossi?
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- Can Crew's Daniel Gazdag continue building momentum without Wessam Abou Ali, Diego Rossi?
Crew forward Daniel Gazdag has always preferred to play alongside a striker, someone who provides a big target to send passes to and distracts defenses. His reasoning became evident as he started to build momentum with Wessam Abou Ali on the field.
Gazdag scored his first goal in the run of play (ie. not a penalty kick) in 19 games during Abou Ali's first appearance for Columbus on Aug. 23.
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From there, the chemistry on the frontline began to grow, not just for Gazdag and Abou Ali, but also forward Diego Rossi.
More: How Malte Amundsen's friendship helped Wessam Abou Ali want to join Columbus Crew
Against Atlanta United on Sept. 13 , the three contributed to the highest-scoring first half (5) in club history. Rossi recorded a hat trick, Abou Ali notched his first goal with Columbus and Gazdag helped by assisting each frontline teammate on a goal.
Momentum came to a halt when Rossi left the Atlanta matchup with a hamstring injury , sidelining him for two to four weeks. Two games later, Abou Ali suffered an ankle injury , which will force him to miss the rest of the regular season.
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"I absolutely felt it (our connection), especially during the Atlanta game, but in training as well," Gazdag said. "Unfortunately, we didn't get to play too much together, the three of us. … It was a good dynamic between us; I was happy to feel that connection. That was actually natural. I just felt when they were on the field, I could find them with the ball."
Columbus Crew midfielder Daniel Gazdag (8), forward Jacen Russell-Rowe (19) and Wessam Abou Ali (9) chat after losing to New England Revolution at Lower.com Field on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio.
The absences of Abou Ali and Rossi leave gaps that Gazdag acknowledges he has to help fill. However, that requires Gazdag to move past the offensive struggles that have plagued him since arriving in Columbus in April.
Traded from the Philadelphia Union in April, Gazdag has recorded just three goals and four assists with Columbus. Four of his goal contributions have occurred in the previous five games.
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"I just want to take those and get some confidence from those," Gazdag said. "Take it with us for the next games."
For Gazdag and other players, such as midfielder Max Arfsten , the focus is on taking the offensive strides made while playing with Abou Ali and carrying them over into the final stretch, despite missing the striker's six-foot-one presence on the field.
"Just continuing to put the ball into dangerous areas, like I've been doing the past couple of games," Arfsten said. "Giving our strikers and attacking players a good chance to get goals, and just providing service. I think I can continue to bring that, and just bring more energy because the energy that they would bring, that's going to be missing. So, just bring more energy on my side of things."
Columbus Crew forward Max Arfsten (27) holds the ball in the second half at Lower.com Field on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio.
Ahead of the Crew's road game against the Chicago Fire on Sept. 27, Rossi is listed as questionable, though coach Wilfried Nancy suggested that the team-leading scorer would likely be unavailable.
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With just three games remaining in the regular season , the Crew know the importance of picking up a victory in Chicago, even without two of their top scorers.
"They are important players for us, and they have good names in the league," Gazdag said. "I'm pretty sure Chicago, I wouldn't say they are happy with that, but they are not sad about it, that our important players are not going to play. So, obviously, they are trying to get in the playoffs as well, so I expect a tough game, and we have to fight for the points."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Can Daniel Gazdag make an impact for Columbus Crew without key players
