Faced with the daunting task of overcoming a three-goal deficit from last week’s disastrous first leg against Los Angeles Football Club, the Black & Gold knew they needed a miracle to prove that impossible is just an opinion. Unfortunately, regarding the Crew’s chances of advancing, it was the correct opinion.

Though in a turnaround from last week’s road block, the Black & Gold did everything in their power to defy the odds, putting in a resilient performance in their fight for a comeback. The Crew dominated in possession and, contrary to the first leg, had a plethora of threatening attacks and several scoring opportunities that saw them score two first-half goals, but they ultimately fell just short of the night’s three-goal barrier to enter the quarter-final stage of the tournament. A fateful knockout punch from Denis Bouanga, who menaced Crew defenders in the first leg, dealt a final blow to the Black & Gold’s chances at the death, bringing the match’s scoreline to 2-1 and the aggregate score across the two matches to 4-2 in favor of LAFC. The visitors advance to the quarter-final stage, where they will face either Inter Miami or Cavalier SC, while the Columbus Crew are officially eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions Cup. 

In a game where the Black & Gold needed to be strong from the get-go, they did just that. Dominating possession and rarely letting their opponents touch the ball, the Crew was able to test LAFC early and get a feel for what was in store. The Black & Gold’s young Canadian forward Jacen Russell-Rowe opened the scoring in the 10th minute of action, his goal met by the roar of the crowd. In the build-up, the Crew had been antagonizing the LAFC defense following a corner kick but couldn’t seem to find a way through. That was until a floated cross from Diego Rossi met the inside of Russell-Rowe’s right boot with a first-time volleyed finish that rose above the gloves of LAFC’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and into the roof of the net. Despite being down 3-1 on aggregate at this point, the momentum had shifted in the Black & Gold’s favor.

Russell-Rowe nearly doubled the Crew’s lead in the 35th minute when a cut-back low cross from Mohamed Farsi met his right insole, but his one-touch finish rose over the crossbar. 

Luck struck for the Black & Gold just before the half, as the Crew were awarded a penalty following a foul from LAFC’s Eddie Segura. Diego Rossi stepped up to take the kick; He went right, Lloris went left, and the Black & Gold went up 2-0 with at least 45 minutes still left to play.

Though the first half saw LAFC’s players sit deep to defend the Black & Gold’s relentless attack, Wilfried Nancy’s side undoubtedly looked the better of the two teams but still seemed to find it difficult at times to penetrate the low block that lay before them. But with that second goal just before half time, a scoreline that seemed unfathomable before the match was becoming an increasingly likely reality.

With only one goal now separating the two sides overall as the second half commenced, the game’s dynamic shifted. LAFC’s David Martinez placed a shot just shy of the left post in the 54th minute after dancing around the Crew defence. Three minutes later, Sean Zawadzki was forced to slide to the rescue for the Black & Gold in the face of a Jeremy Ebobisse strike from the right of the six-yard box, which he cleared for a corner.

The Crew appeared to have found an aggregate equalizer in the 66th minute, though the referee ruled otherwise. Max Arfsten connected with an Evgen Cheberko cross that fell to his feet, smashing the ball at Lloris, who appeared to be behind his line. Despite the Black & Gold players’ pleas, the referee said to play on as the ball had not crossed the goal line. 

Dylan Chambost gave Lloris a final scare from a direct free kick in the 90th minute. His low, curling shot toward the inside of the right post forced an out-streched save from the LAFC goalkeeper with little time to spare.

With the Crew desperately scrambling to find a third goal, Denis Bouanga arose to reprise his role as the villain in this tie. A rapid LAFC counterattack saw their new signing Cengiz Ünder dribble with speed at Patrick Schulte, with the winger opting to square the ball to Bouanga, who had little trouble finding the back of the net.

Despite the disappointment of elimination, Tuesday’s match showcased many positives from Head Coach Wilfried Nancy’s side in what was likely the Crew’s best performance of the season so far. With the lack of attacking threat exhibited in the first leg against LAFC and Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Houston at the heart of many fans’ worries, the team showcased that it had what it takes to dominate against a fellow league powerhouse and rebound from a difficult loss. 

Post-game, Nancy spoke about the importance of humility in his and his players’ mental approach to games of such magnitude without dwelling on the large goal deficit. 

“I don’t talk about the fact that we were behind 3-0 because we know that, so this is useless for me to talk about. What we want you to do is be ourselves… It means that when we play a game, we want to be on the front foot,” Nancy said. “When you think too much about the outcome, what is going to happen is you will not play in the present. And for me, playing present, you control what you can control. So forget about the outcome and be good on your performance on the task, and this is what they did.”

Although the score didn’t go their way, Nancy says he is taking positives away from the performance. 

“For me, it was a good challenge, not an opportunity, but a good challenge for my players to push their boundaries. And for me, this is good because they showed me that they can do it,” Nancy said.

Despite the Black & Gold’s elimination from the CONCACAF Champions Cup, Chambost was proud of the team’s performance and strong presence early in the game that saw Russell-Rowe score in the 10th minute.

“It was the objective before the game. We wanted to score quickly, and we did it. Of course, this goal gave us confidence, and we continued to push forward,” Chambost said. “We scored the second goal before half time, and I think our second half was also good. We were patient, and we tried to score the third, but we didn’t.”

Russell-Rowe spoke of the challenges in finding goal-scoring opportunities against defences such as LAFC’s, who maintained a low block for much of the match. 

“[I was looking for] any space, any type of look at the net, honestly. You’re just looking to get the ball in the box, and I was just trying to find spaces off the shoulders, quick little movements,” Russell-Rowe said. “But when teams are low and all they’re trying to do is defend, it’s difficult, like you saw on the weekend [in the 0-0 draw against Houston Dynamo].”

With many positives to take into the rest of the season, the Crew returns to California to face MLS’ newest franchise, San Diego FC, on Saturday, March 15th at 10:30 p.m. ET.