Confidence is a powerful thing in sports. All it takes is a single moment for a player to turn their season around.
Right now, there is nobody in MLS more confident than Federico Higuain.
The Argentinian midfielder has found the scoring touch that Columbus has needed this whole season, scoring all four Crew goals in the last two matches.
“Performing as well as we did in the last two games, creating chances, and then he is in the right place at the right time,” Crew head coach Robert Warzycha stated. “The second goal was an unbelievable goal. He does something every day that people love to see at the stadiums.”
His confidence seems to be rubbing off on the rest of the team as well. The Crew moved to 29 points on the season with a 2-0 victory against Toronto FC.
It was Columbus’ second straight victory, the first time this season that the Crew have won back-to-back matches.
The breakthrough for the home side came in the 19th minute when Bernardo Anor’s point blank shot was saved by Toronto keeper Joe Bendik. The resulting deflection fell to Higuain, who proceeded to give Columbus an early lead.
In the 67th minute Higuain scored a wonder goal to give Columbus a two goal advantage, chipping the opposing keeper for the second straight match. The ball was laid off the Higuain who took a couple of touches and calmly floated the ball over the head of Bendik and into the back of the net.
The strike was Higuain’s ninth on the season, which ties him for the team lead with Dominic Oduro.
After splitting two matches against Toronto earlier in the year, winning 1-0 on May 18 and losing 2-1 on July 27, the win means that Columbus takes home the Trillium Cup for the second straight season and fifth time in its six year history.
The win also ties Warzycha with Tom Fitzgerald for the most victories as the Crew head coach at 70.
Keeper Matt Lampson made his fourth start of the year in place of the injured Andy Gruenebaum and managed his third shutout of the season, one that included a diving save in the 60th minute to prevent a Toronto score.
Next up Columbus hits the road to take on Real Salt Lake on August 24.
Subside Sports Man of the Match: Federico Higuain
Who else could it be? The captain scored his second brace in as many games and is looking to single handedly turn the Crew season around. He was involved throughout the match, playing general in the midfield and setting up chances for Arrieta and Oduro on multiple occasions. His second goal will go down as one of the best this season and it doesn’t look like he has any intention of slowing down.
