MLS Cup: Columbus Crew outlasts defending champions LAFC, 2-1, as hosts win third league title in front of sea of yellow after first-half strikes from Cucho Hernandez and Yaw Yeboah

Moments before the Columbus Crew’s fourth MLS Cup appearance on Saturday, a sea of ​​yellow-clad fans serenaded their team with Elvis Presley’s heartfelt “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”

Home fans will now be even more delighted.

Facing Western Conference champion LAFC, Columbus scored twice in four minutes in the first half to build a lead that would ultimately not be relinquished, and the hosts captured MLS’ top prize with a 2-1 victory.

“Unfortunately one of the two has to lose… it’s been a great journey,” said LAFC player Giorgio Chiellini.

Leading up to the match, there were suspicions that Columbus would dominate the ball, so a 68-32 possession advantage to the newly crowned league winners in the first 45 minutes did not come as much of a shock.

But the lack of energy from the 2022 champions early in the game was actually surprising.

The Columbus Crew won 2-1 in front of their fans on Below.com on Saturday.

Team head coach Wilfried Nancy holds the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy after winning the MLS Cup.

Cucho Hernandez opened the scoring with a penalty in the 33rd minute after a handball.

Columbus outshot their visitors 8-4 in the first half, but the gap in ambition seemed much larger early in the match.

Aidan Morris’ early penalty in the ninth minute was disallowed by the referee, but it was a sign of things to come. One team went into and around the penalty area much more often than the other.

Steven Moreira fired wide after finding himself free in the box, Cucho Hernandez went close from range in the 23rd minute and Diego Rossi hit the sideline in the 27th minute.

Meanwhile, a sloppy pass from Columbus in the 26th minute gave LAFC their first opening as Carlos Vela saw his shot blocked, but it was a testament to their toothlessness that their first real chance came from an almost unforced error.

Columbus Crew’s Mohamed Farsi (in yellow) and LAFC’s Carlos Vela fight for the ball

A fan waves a Columbus Crew flag before the start of the MLS Cup on Saturday.

The hosts, meanwhile, were more incisive and got a deserved first goal in the 33rd minute when Hernandez converted a penalty after a Diego Palacios handball.

And that lead was doubled just four minutes later when Malte Amundsen put Yaw Yeboah ahead and calmly took the second from the left.

The sight of 39-year-old Giorgio Chiellini stalking the game from behind – even if Yeboah wasn’t his man – was sobering, especially given his flirtations with retirement before the match.

If that was all for the nine-time Serie A winner, who said after the match he would need a couple of days to make a decision, there was no comeback as the hosts held their nerve and Los Angeles failed to create much more. .

It was a particularly quiet game for Vela, who is now out of contract with LAFC and may have just played his final game for the club.

There were moments about the team building a reputation as one of the best in MLS.

Giorgio Chiellini’s side suffered a setback in what could be his last professional game

In first-half stoppage time, Christian Olivera’s cross dangerously deflected off the heel of Rudy Camacho inside the six-yard box, but the ball bounced harmlessly out of bounds for a corner.

LAFC finally came alive in the 74th minute when Denis Buanga grabbed the rebound to halve the hosts’ lead.

LAFC’s traveling army of fans was energized, and the Columbus team, which had played a fairly comfortable final to that point, was shocked.

But it wasn’t long before Crew fans found their voice again, almost realizing that their team was still in control and minutes away from winning their third MLS Cup.

About twenty minutes later, after a few typically nerve-wracking final moments, Columbus officially won the feat.

The defeat caps a promising but ultimately fruitless season for Los Angeles, which has lost three finals this year (the other two competitions were the Campeones Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League).

However, coach Steve Cherundolo called the year a “success”.

“Do I think they are better than us?” – he said after the match. ‘No. Today they were better than us.

Ultimately, this was more than enough for Columbus.