Diego Rossi scored a brace to help the Columbus Crew start its Leagues Cup quest with a 4-nil victory against Sporting Kansas City in the Round of 32 on Friday at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.
As the MLS Cup champions, Columubs received a bye into the knockout stage. Sporting KC had the better rhythm in the opening stretch, until The Crew found its offensive groove after twenty days removed from its last official encounter.
“Tonight I'm really proud of my guys,” said Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy. “I knew that we could have issues or problems, and this is what happened in terms of the quality of the pass. We lost a few balls that usually we don't lose, but they found a way to score the goal before the half time, and after that, we adjusted certain things, and they did it well.”
Cucho Hernández was one of the catalysts in offense, jump-starting the Crew’s efforts with a look from midfield in the 31st minute, forcing a save from John Pulskamp.
Seconds later, Hernandez found Christian Ramírez inside the penalty area but the attempt was wide of goal.
Rudy Camacho struck a header on goal in the 34th minute from a Columbus corner kick, but it was blocked by Tim Leibold to prevent it from crossing the goal line as Pulskamp jumped on top to extinguish the danger.
Dániel Sallói struck with a scissor kick at the left post in the 35th minute but was denied by Nicholas Hagen before Camacho kicked the ball out of the Crew’s penalty area.
Diego Rossi broke through with the opening goal in the 44th minute with a diagonal strike inside the penalty area, connecting on a perfectly weighted pass from Cucho Hernández.
Rossi continued scoring streak on the other side of the half, intercepting a clearance from Robert Voloder to set up his brace in the 57th minute.
“Especially the second goal that he scored, he didn't think too much,” said Nancy. “So the ball came and he decided to try something, and this is exactly the values that we have here. Try things and don't overthink.”
Cucho Hernández struck from outside the box in the 60th minute as the MLS champions continued looking to extend their tally.
DeJuan Jones came off the bench in the 76th minute to make his Crew debut, joining the club this summer from the New England Revolution. He scored his first goal in over a year in the 77th on a give-and-go with Jacen Russell-Rowe for Columbus’ third goal of the game.
Dylan Chambost pounced inside the box in the 79th minute to add fourth as The Crew cruised to victory in their opening match of their Leagues Cup campaign.
“They’re a team right now that is very dominant,” said Sporting KC head coach Peter Vermes. “There's other ways that you can capitalize on teams like this. Unfortunately, we didn't do any of those things.”
The Ohio club now assured to achieve its best finish in the tournament after bowing out in the Round of 32 on penalties in the 2023 edition. The Crew will host Inter Miami CF in the Round of 16 on Monday.
