The Columbus Crew earned a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps at Lower.com Field on Saturday night, snapping a six-game winless streak in the process with the team’s first victory since May 3rd. Goals from Ibrahim Aliyu and Diego Rossi lifted the home side over the Western Conference and Supporters Shield leaders in a match that coincided with several players’ absences due to international fixtures. The result sees the Black & Gold rise to third place in the Eastern Conference, while the Whitecaps remain atop the Western Conference standings.

The Black & Gold got off to a flying start, needing just over one minute to find the back of the net to open the scoring. Andrés Herrera played a through ball down the right wing to Lassi Lappalainen, who beat his defender to the ball and rapidly approached the penalty area. As Whitecaps defenders closed in, Lappalainen cut the ball across the box to Aliyu, who slotted the ball into the roof of the net with a first-time, right-footed shot past Yohei Takaoka.

The Whitecaps were quick to respond in the sixth minute. The buildup began at the halfway line, where Andrés Cubas used the outside of his right foot to thread a diagonal, rightward pass through the Crew defense into the path of Mathías Laborda at the edge of the 18-yard box. Laborda used his first touch to cut the ball back to Daniel Ríos in the middle, with Ríos striking the ball first-time with his right foot past Evan Bush, the ball taking a slight deflection on its way in.

In the 23rd minute, Daniel Gazdag capitalized on a poor Whitecaps touch to set up Rossi for the Crew’s second goal of the night. Upon receiving a pass from Takaoka, Tristan Blackmon’s heavy first touch fell into no man’s land, with Gazdag first to the ball and quick to push forward. He used his first touch to pass the ball left to Rossi, who took one touch on his left foot before slotting the ball home with his right. 

The Black & Gold thought they had scored a third in the 58th minute, but Mohamed Farsi was ruled offside in the buildup to Aziel Jackson’s finish. AZ played a through ball to Farsi from the halfway line through the Whitecaps defense, with Farsi finding himself with acres of space and only the keeper to beat. With his head on a swivel to watch for oncoming defenders, Farsi elected to cut the ball back to AZ rather than go by himself, with AZ finding the back of the open net with ease. The Crew’s celebrations were cut short once VAR ruled that Farsi received the ball from AZ’s initial through ball behind the last defender, ruling the goal offside and leaving the score at 2-1 in the Black & Gold’s favor.

The Whitecaps nearly found their way back into the game in the 69th minute. Édier Ocampo sprinted down the right flank before firing a shot across goal from the edge of the 18-yard box with his right foot. The ball drifted past Bush’s reach, but just wide of the left post and out for a goal kick.

In the 75th minute, the fourth official’s flag rose to rule out another Crew goal for offside. The buildup saw Gazdag play a leftward diagonal through ball to Aliyu, who carried the ball before passing it across goal to Rossi. With Takaoka stepping off his line to approach Aliyu, Rossi was free to pass the ball into the open net. Once again, the Whitecaps’ high line proved beneficial, with the referee ruling Aliyu offside in the buildup to the goal.

All good things come in threes, but in this case, so did the Crew’s disallowed goals for offside against the Whitecaps. In the 80th minute, Mohamad Farsi played a through ball down the right flank to Herrera, who dribbled into the penalty area with eyes toward goal. With time to shift his body positioning, he adjusted and shot the ball with the inside of his left foot, the ball deflecting off of Takaoka’s gloves before ricocheting into the goal. Herrera was quickly ruled offside for his initial run past the defence, with the Crew growing in frustration over their close calls.

An acrobatic save in the closing moments of injury time from Takaoka prevented the Crew from scoring a late goal to seal the win with minutes to spare. Rossi broke down the left flank and found Jacen Russell-Rowe with a short pass inside the box. Russell-Rowe struck the ball first-time with his left foot, the ball rising high and slightly left of Takaoka’s initial position. The Whitecaps goalkeeper instinctively shot up his right arm exactly where the ball was placed, deflecting it upward and out for a corner kick.

The Black & Gold’s emphatic performance against the Whitecaps is as welcome as ever, with the Crew having failed to win in its previous six matches, but it also displayed an attacking presence that has been missing for quite some time since the departure of Cucho Hernández and Christian Ramirez up top. Aliyu’s instant impact seemed to ignite a confidence in the Crew that has been missing for much of this season, one that has instilled fear in the Black & Gold’s opponents since the start of Wilfried Nancy’s tenure.

The match saw the front three of Aliyu, Rossi, and Gazdag, as well as others, combine effectively repeatedly; so much so that the Black & Gold were ruled offside seven times, three of which were goals called back. For Gazdag, it culminated in his first-ever goal contribution for the Black & Gold, which he and fans alike have awaited since his arrival in March. While his time as a Crew player thus far has not been poor by any means, getting an assist to his name will surely be a boost for Gazdag going forward. 

In the Black & Gold’s previous match, Nancy’s side was dismantled by Lionel Messi, who contributed two goals and two assists in the 5-1 defeat to Inter Miami. Despite two weeks passing to recoup since the loss, this fixture against the Vancouver Whitecaps was expected to present another challenge, as the visitors led the race for the Supporters Shield with a game in hand. Additionally, the Whitecaps were looking to prove themselves after falling 5-0 to Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final earlier this month, already rebounding with a 3-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on June 8th.

But with both sides fielding depleted rosters with players out through Gold Cup participation and injury, it was unclear whether the Whitecaps would have the same competitive edge that had seen them rise to the top of the standings. The Crew ultimately had the most to gain with fewer starters missing on the night and won the match to end a poor run of form. While the win is crucial for morale at this stage of the season, the absence of several key players allowed Nancy to provide valuable minutes to others, such as Lappalainen, Amar Sedjic, Taha Habroune, Tristan Brown, and Evan Bush, the latter of whom became the oldest player to ever start a match for the Columbus Crew at 39 years and 100 days old (Previous record: 39 years, 18 days, Robert Warzycha, September 7th, 2002). With depth critical during the coinciding Gold Cup and an increasingly congested fixture list ahead, player rotation will be paramount for the Black & Gold.

The Black & Gold’s next match is a midweek home fixture against Atlanta United on Wednesday, June 25th at 7:30 p.m. ET.