Picture Credits: Columbus Crew Twitter (@ColumbusCrew)
It is not very often that a team comfortably wins in Major League Soccer. But, Saturday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio was one of those matches. The game was all Black and Gold from the opening whistle, and the Crew never looked back. Columbus had 56% of the possession, but it felt like they had the ball much more than that. Columbus outshot Vancouver 22-7 on shots, including 7-0 shots on goal. It felt like Vancouver rarely had the ball, and it was just a complete performance from the Crew.
Match Recap
Miguel Berry got the party started with a double doinker in the 8th minute. And it would not stop there. It was a throughly dominant performance, and the product on the pitch showed that. In the 25th minute, Derrick Etienne Jr. would put the ball past Whitecaps goalkeeper Thomas Hasal from a phenomenal pass from fellow winger and Crew newcomer Yaw Yeboah with a cross field pass. Columbus controlled the game for the remainder of the first half, and went into the halftime break up 2-0. Vancouver would come out of the halftime break with a little more edge, but that would pressure would be short lived as Whitecaps defender Jakob Nerwinski would be shown his second yellow card, borderline straight red card, when Yaw Yeboah would be in on goal, but would be held back and put off-balance by Nerwinski, allowing the defenseman to catch him. After the red card, Columbus gathered an even firmer grip on the game, officially putting it away when Luis Diaz scored in the 84 minute to make it 3-0, with Lucas Zelerayan scoring just two minutes later to finish the match 4-0.
Picture Credits: Columbus Crew Twitter (@ColumbusCrew)
Takeaways
Artur Shines in His Return
Artur may not have got on the scoresheet, or had an assist, but Saturday's match showed just how important Artur is to the success of the Columbus Crew. His partnership with Darlington Nagbe in the middle of the park is unmatched, and the way that he helps control the midfield is something Columbus heavily missed last season.
Lucas Continues To Do Lucas Things
This was not Lucas' best match by any stretch of the imagination. But, the best players find ways to contribute to their team, even if they themselves are not in the best of form. His contribution was an assist to Miguel Berry to open up the scoring, and then with a little bit of skill to dribble though three defenders and finish off the game with a goal.
Two Newcomers Were Fantastic
Columbus had a number of new signings this winter, but none bigger than Yaw Yeboah and Milos Degenek. Yaw got his first Major League Soccer assist with a fantastic ball to Derrick Etienne Jr. for the second goal of the match. Milos formed a great partnership with Crew captain Jonathan Mensah, helping keep a clean sheet.
Man Of The Match
I am going to start a new portion of these match recaps. Every match, I will name who I think was the man of the match for the Crew, win or lose. The first man of the match of the 2022 season goes to Artur. With this being his return from a major injury, and him going 69 minutes, and helping control the midfield. He also almost had two world class strikes, one just missing and the other hitting the crossbar.
Whats Next
Columbus will make their first road trip of the season as they travel cross-country to PayPal Park in San Jose, California to take on the San Jose Earthquakes. This will be the first meeting between Columbus and San Jose since 2019, when the two teams drew 1-1 in San Jose. Kick-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EST.