The annual opening day for Columbus Crew SC at MAPFRE Stadium dubbed “Crewsmas” by supporters ended in a 1-0 victory.
Caleb Porter’s starting lineup included three new signings in the form of attacking midfielder Lucas Zelarayan, box-to-box midfielder Darlington Nagbe, and central defender Vito Wormgoor.
While last season was a a season of transition for the new ownership, this season is a much different story. “2019 became more of a celebration that the Crew were still in Columbus, the Crew were still where they belonged,” said ESPN FC analyst and former Crew player Alejandro Moreno.
For this season, Porter was given more investments in pieces he desired including Nagbe whom he won the 2015 MLS Cup with at MAPFRE Stadium. There certainly will be more expectations for this season. The team was also without familiar faces Wil Trapp (Inter Miami) and Federico Higuain (D.C. United) respectively.
As for the game itself, it got off to a chippy start as Maxime Chanot got a red card for running across Zelarayan as he was clear on goal for a 1v1 opportunity with Sean Johnson. The early aggressiveness continued as NYCFC fans suffered an injury scare as Anton Tinnerholm stayed down for a couple minutes after a harsh challenge from Wormgoor for which he was awarded a yellow.
“When you’re on their side in their group, it’s just about trying to survive,” said Caleb Porter on the red card for NYCFC. “I thought they did a nice job, New York, of buckling in. They’re a good team, really good back four, good midfield.”
Columbus did not get any real opportunities until Pedro Santos made a cut just outside the box to launch a shot just over the bar. The pressure from Columbus continued until the end of the half with NYCFC relying on the counter to produce anything. The best chance was created by incisive first-touch passing from Zelarayan, Santos, and Harrison Afful ending in a shot 12 yards out from Santos which he skied over the bar. Zelarayan showcased his quality as he scored a wonder goal, spinning off a defender on the edge of the six-yard box.
Despite consistent pressure from Columbus in the second half, it stayed 1-0 for the rest of the second half as a result of NYCFC’s dogged defense and a few missed opportunities by the Crew including a miss by Luis Diaz right outside the six.
Zelarayan provided a consistent threat working with Santos to create many opportunities for Columbus.
“There’s not a good team in the world that doesn’t have difference makers individually who can pull off good plays… That’s what he brings,” said Porter as he praised Zelarayan’s individual brilliance.
NYCFC relied on the counter for much of the match as they played a man down right from the get-go. Despite staying in the match for its entirety, they were unable to carve out a goal to get anything out of it.
After finishing 10th last season in the eastern conference, Crew SC were able to kickstart their season with a very important win at home.
“It’s big. We don’t take any game for granted and we don’t take any point we get for granted,” emphasized Porter. “MLS, there’s no league like it. Any time, I don’t care how it happens, you can put three points in the bank and we’ll take it.”
Columbus will look to continue their winning start in the MLS as they travel to CenturyLink Field to take on the Seattle Sounders this coming Saturday.
