Columbus Crew came up short against Atlanta United, losing 4-2 in game two and setting up an "emotional" game three at Lower.com Field in MLS Cup playoffs.
Even though Atlanta's Giorgos Giakoumakis kicked things off early with a thumping header, the Crew responded with a goal from talisman Cucho Hernadez right on the brink of halftime to level the score. It seemed like the two sides were going into the interval all knotted up with everything to play for in the second 45.
However, Xande Silva put the Five Stripes back in front a few minutes into first-half stoppage time, swinging the momentum back into the home team's favor. Atlanta went on to add to second-half goals via Edwin Mosquera and MLS assists leader and Young player of the year Thiago Almada, while Columbus' Max Arfsten pulled one back, but it was too little too late.
"Again first of all, Atlanta did a really good game," Crew boss Wilfried Nancy said after the contest. "Defensively, we backpedaled a lot. Usually, we don't do that. Obviously, the opposition also forced us to do that, but we were not too aggressive in order to be on the front foot to be able to be connected to win the ball on the side when we need to and the connection to sort it out in the middle."
Nancy explained that his side were essentially playing catch-up in the second half after scoring their first goal in the first 45, something that MLS Cup winning sides usually don't do a lot of.
"After that, we made a few mistakes that usually we don't do. Usually, when we do a mistake like this, we are able to recover with the mistake, but we didn't do it because they played well, also. After that, we were catching up, catching up, catching up, catching up. We have to be aggressive. If we play with a flat-back five, we are going to defend, defend and defend, and this is not what we want so we need to adjust a little bit more of that," he said.
The Crew still remain in a strong position to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals, as Atlanta United haven't won at Lower.com Field since August 2021. In the 2023 regular season, only Supporters' Shield winners FC Cincinnati were better at home than Columbus, as Nancy's team accumulated 40 of their 57 points at their home ground.
"Now, we know that we’re going to play at home, the fans are going to be behind us and it's going to be an emotional game," said Nancy. "We know that, but at the same time, we love to play at home, but we know that it won't be easy. We’re going to try to take advantage of that."
Orlando City await the winner of the decisive game three in the Eastern Conference semifinals after sweeping Nashville SC with a pair of 1-0 victories. Game three between Atlanta and Columbus is set for November 12 at Lower.com Field, pitting the two entertaining teams against each other one final time in 2023.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Wilfried Nancy details what went wrong in Columbus Crew's game two defeat to Atlanta.
