Did Columbus Crew shock LAFC with late goals in the Leagues Cup final?
Columbus Crew beats Los Angeles FC 3-1 in Leagues Cup final
Relive the celebration as the Columbus Crew defeated Los Angeles FC 3-1 in the Leagues Cup final, powered by two goals from striker Cucho Hernandez.
As time ticked down in the second half of the Leagues Cup final, it felt like Los Angeles FC were playing for a 1-1 draw in regulation time, which would have resulted in a penalty shootout determining the winner.
Christian Ramirez sensed that was LAFC’s game plan when he left the field in the 73rd minute of the match when Crew coach Wilfried Nancy substituted Ramirez for Jacen Russell-Rowe. Ramirez, however, was not upset about leaving the game as he watched his teammates Cucho Hernandez and Russell-Rowe score goals in the four minutes of stoppage time that gave Columbus the 3-1 win and the Leagues Cup trophy.
“It was electric,” Ramirez said. “We knew there were games where the bench was going to be critical for us, and that’s been the case for the last two years. And this time, it was Jacen who provided a spark, and he did it in a fantastic way.”
In the Crew’s last three tournaments – MLS Cup playoffs, CONCACAF Champions Cup and Leagues Cup – they have scored at least one goal after the 65-minute mark to secure victory in six games, including Sunday’s Leagues Cup final.
Sometimes it was substitutes who scored the decisive goals, such as Ramirez in several MLS Cup playoff games or Alex Matan in the first leg of the Houston Dynamo Champions Cup series. But the regulars were also at the forefront in several situations when the Crew really turned it up late in the game. Most notably in the Leagues Cup quarterfinal against Inter Miami, when Diego Rossi and Ramirez, now a regular, scored all three goals in the Crew’s comeback.
After the game against Miami, Nancy called the Crew a team that “doesn’t give up,” but LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo believed before the final that Los Angeles would gain the upper hand in the second half and possibly win the game.
“I thought we did a fantastic job in the second half,” Cherundolo said. “We wanted to weather the storm at halftime. They’ve started fast in this tournament and really picked up the pace in the first 30 minutes, like they did tonight (Sunday), but then faltered late.”
Los Angeles conceded the first goal in the final minutes of the first half through Hernandez, which Cherundolo considered the most devastating goal of the game. In the second half, LAFC controlled most of the offensive chances. Olivier Giroud scored in the 57th minute and the team outscored Columbus 5-4 overall.
While LAFC expected Columbus to be “exhausted” by the end of the second half, Cherundolo said it was the Crew’s play in stoppage time that caught Los Angeles defenders “not awake,” which thwarted LAFC’s game plan.
“Passion, competitive spirit, as I like to call it, and the desire to make history,” Nancy said. “That’s why they always find a way to come back. Yes, we can talk about tactics and so on, but for me this (their mind) is the most important thing and they are very strong in that.”
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