The Columbus Crew closed out a busy month of May by welcoming the Colorado Rapids to Lower.com Field. The contest marked the first visit from the Western Conference foe since the Black & Gold opened its new home during the 2021 season.
Columbus began the match with a potent offensive attack, creating several quality scoring chances.
Just three minutes into the contest, midfielder Yaw Yeboah quickly switched the field with a cross to wing back Mohamed Farsi which caused havoc for the Rapids’ defense early. The pressure continued as midfielder Lucas Zelarayan, with a defender on his back, turned and unleashed a shot that was just above the crossbar.
In the sixth minute, Yeboah continued to pose a threat from the wings as his cross from the left had to be pushed out of bounds by Colorado defender Danny Wilson to deny the hosts a chance at goal.
Against the run of play, the Rapids tallied the game’s opening goal in the ninth minute. An errant pass from Black & Gold defender Philip Quinton was intercepted by Colorado midfielder Sam Nicholson and buried to the right of a diving goalkeeper Patrick Schulte to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.
Desperate to equalize, Columbus pushed numbers forward. The tactic nearly put the Crew in a 2-0 hole as Colorado forward Jonathan Lewis snuck behind the defense and beat Schulte, but it was whistled offside following a VAR check from referee Tori Penso.
Nearly a half hour into the contest Zelarayan nearly equalized for the Crew. His turn and subsequent shot narrowly missed clipping the inside of the left post.
The Columbus playmaker broke through in the 37th minute. Zelarayan buried a one-time shot off a cross from Yeboah on the left side of the penalty area past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Marko IIić and into the net to level the game at 1-1.
Head coach Wilfred Nancy and his club appeared energized and ready to go for the second half as the Crew dominated play through the first 19 minutes. In the 51st minute, forwards Christian Ramirez and Cucho Hernandez combined for a quick give-and-go in the penalty area that forced a save from IIić. Three minutes later, Hernandez had another opportunity rattle the crossbar and out. Despite being a miss, the fans inside of Lower.com Field energized the Black & Gold.
Columbus got its go-ahead goal in the 62nd minute off a header from midfielder Sean Zawadzki, who came in as a center back. He had previously entered the game at the start of the second half, relieving Quinton who struggled with the pace of the Colorado attack.
Zawadzki headed in a lofted ball off a corner from Zelarayan to give the hosts their first lead of the contest.
Ten minutes later, Columbus struck again. Zelarayan found Hernandez with a ball in the far side of the penalty area. The forward created space and generated a quality opportunity that bested the Colorado goalkeeper to extend the lead to 3-1.
Colorado added a goal in the dying moments to trim the Crew lead to 3-2, but the Black & Gold held firm with a makeshift backline and a potent attack to take home the victory and close the month of May on a high note after dropping its previous three contests.
Rough start, better finish
Going down nine minutes into the contest wasn’t the ideal start to the contest that head coach Wilfred Nancy and the Crew envisioned in front of a packed house at home. Despite the difficulties, the Black & Gold boss went to the bench and made the necessary changes to deliver Columbus a better chance at victory. Little did he know, that his unconventional substitution of Zawadzki at center back would not only yield defensive benefits but would be seen on the scoresheet as well.
Homegrown Hero
Heralded by his teammates as the “Homegrown hero,” by teammates Keegan Hughes and Will Sands during the postgame scrum in the locker room, Zawadzki was praised for his utility along the Crew backline. Contributing a goal was icing on the cake for the Homegrown product. Describing his goal-scoring moment as “see ball, get ball” the 23-year-old is quickly on his way to earning himself hero status amongst the Crew faithful.
What next
The Crew has the benefit of staying put as the Black & Gold welcome Charlotte FC to town on Saturday evening. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
MASSIVE REPORT 
Quinton has clearly not been able to perform at the level needed, especially in a starting role. I still don’t think he fits Nancy’s system, but I also think that at his age, a game or two to sit and watch the game would be a big help. It is hard to learn from your experience without having time for reflection and these two game weeks, along with no back line depth, have done him no favors.
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On another tack, I liked the combo of Ramirez and Cucho together. Cucho doesn’t really play like a standard number 9, he likes to wander more, so I think pairing him with a more traditional 9 worked out well.
I also think Yaboah is better as a midfielder than as a straight winger. I know we are short at winger, especially if we have to pull Amundsen to CB. He is better running at the corner of the box than he is running the sideline and putting in crosses.
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