It was a night of homecomings for the Columbus Crew as they hosted the New England Revolution. The Club welcomed 2020 MLS Cup champions Ema Boateng, former head coach Caleb Porter and captain Jonathan Mensah. In addition, Will Sands returned to Lower.com Field after being traded to the Revolution earlier in the year in exchange for DeJuan Jones.

It was a true test of depth yet again as the Crew were without key players due to international duty and injury.

Columbus took all of five minutes to start hot when AZ Jackson dribbled through the midfield and played a wide pass to DeJuan Jones. After taking a touch to his favored left foot, Jones picked out the far post to boost the home side to a 1-0 lead.

Alex Matan claimed the Crew’s 2-0 lead after he collected a pass from Dylan Chambost and picked out the near post in the 14th minute.

To start the second half, the Revolution came out with a more advanced press, attempting to keep Columbus pinned in their defensive half. The plan seemed to have worked for the first 10 minutes of the half until the Crew settled in.

Matan boosted the Crew’s score to 3-0, collecting a long ball from defender Rudy Camacho. Matan danced around Brandon Bye and comfortably placed his shot to Aljaz Ivacic’s left-hand side. With that goal, the Club surpassed their record of goals scored in a season (67) to have 68 on the year.

Matan would find himself in on goal after receiving a pass from Derrick Jones and scoring his third of the night, and the Crew’s 69th of the season. A nice mark.

The night of good times didn’t end with a Matan hat-trick but with the Crew selling out all home matches for the first time in Club history, as 20,439 was the announced attendance on Fan Appreciation Night.

Columbus would see out the 4-0 win, with Matan being the center of attention on another record-setting night for the Columbus Crew.

Abraham Romero redemption

After being shown a red card in his Crew debut against the Seattle Sounders, Abraham Romero proved the red to be a fluke as he claimed a clean sheet in the Crew’s 4-0 win.

Alex Matan hat trick hero

Alex Matan scored three on a team led by Caleb Porter, who sent the Romanian on loan during his tenure with the Black & Gold. Matan found life hard in Columbus until Wilfried Nancy gave him a chance, and he capitalized in all his appearances throughout the season.

What’s next?

The Columbus Crew end their 2024 MLS campaign on the road next week, as they face off against the New York Red Bulls. Kickoff from Red Bull Arena is set for 6pm EDT. You can watch the match on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.