Ahead of their 2024 Leagues Cup knockout round matchup against the second place finisher in the West 4 division, the Columbus Crew faced off against Premier League side Aston Villa in a Leagues Cup showcase friendly.

Early on, Villa claimed for a penalty when Morgan Rogers was taken down inside the penalty box while attempting to get on the end of a pass from Leon Bailey. The referee waved no penalty, and Crew keeper Nicholas Hagen was able to collect comfortably.

In the 14th minute, the Crew got on the board through Cucho Hernandez. Wingback Will Sands switched the play to Christian Ramirez, who collected with ease before finding Hernandez in the middle of the 18-yard box. Hernandez found the back of the net at the back post to continue his hot form, and give the home side an advantage.

Hernandez tallied his second of the evening when Diego Rossi played Hernandez through on goal. Hernandez saw Joe Gauci off of his line and was able to chip the Villa keeper to double the lead for the home side.

The opposition got a goal back through Cameron Archer, who put his shot into the top netting past Hagen to pull the Villians within one. Immediately after the Crew pulled back in front by two goals.

Midfielder Darlington Nagbe found Hernandez with a ball played over the top, right into the path of the Colombia forward. After a quick pullback, Hernandez fired home his shot with his left foot again, tallying his first half hat trick and giving the Crew a 3-1 lead heading into halftime.

The Crew wasted no time picking up right where they left off after a plethora of subs, including newcomer Dylan Chambost.

Through the lingering yellow smoke in the 53rd minute, Chambost got his name on the scoresheet after Jacen Russell-Rowe’s shot from close range hit off of the face of Villa keeper Oliver Zych and fell to the French midfielder who dispatched it into the back of the net to make the score 4-1.

Columbus came close to making the score larger when Yaw Yeboah was able to get around a defender and square a ball to the center of the box for Russell-Rowe. However, the Canadian international just put the shot wide.

Aston Villa had a couple of chances late in the second half to cut the three-goal deficit, but couldn’t find the back of the net, and Columbus securing the win.

Cucho continues hot form

Though the goals won’t count towards his goal total for MLS, Cucho Hernandez continued his hot form that earned him MLS Player of the Month for July, bagging a hat trick in the first half.

Nothing to worry about

Sure, it’s a Leagues Cup showcase and Aston Villa are in preseason mode. But the Columbus Crew scoring four against a high quality opponent should show that the two matches before the Leagues Cup break was just Columbus having a bad week.

What’s next?

The Columbus Crew enter Leagues Cup in the Round of 32. They will play the winner of West 4 division on August 9 at home. You can watch the match on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.