The Columbus Crew looked like the Columbus Crew again.
The Black & Gold returned to winning ways on Saturday night when they beat the Colorado Rapids, 3-0, at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field. The win was the club’s first league victory since Hell is Real on Jul. 25.
The three points isn’t exactly removing an albatross but it was a reminder there’s plenty of potential for this rebuilt Columbus side that just navigated a hectic month of matches, competitions and player movement.
“We wanted to kind of redeem ourselves for not the losses but just the way we performed,” interim head coach Laurent Courtois said after the match. “Whether it was physical or technical, today they showed who they are, and it feels good.”
New Designated Player Santiago Rodríguez opened the scoring for the Crew with a long-range header in the 22nd minute. He’s the second DP to score on his Crew debut in 2026: Brais Méndez accomplished the feat earlier this season at Inter Miami CF on Aug. 1.
Rodríguez, a deadline day signing from Botafogo in Brazil, was pleased with his performance following a crazy week of speculation if the deal would even happen.
“It was a bit crazy. I had a lot of anxiety to be able to arrive in Columbus,” he said. “At certain points I did not have many answers and it seemed like the deal wasn’t going to go through, but I realized I had to travel, (Crew General Manager) Issa Tall sent me a message and told me to travel. I was so happy and I came as quick as possible. The week was a bit crazy but truthfully, I am so happy to be able to end the week with a goal and a victory that the team earned.”
Rodríguez wasn’t the only new signing to get his first goal for the Black & Gold. Gonzalo Tapia doubled the lead in the 81st minute with an absolutely sensational smash to the back post with the outside of his right boot.
Tapia then provided an assist to Taha Habroune for a 94th minute goal to confirm the three points.
“I can't say enough how proud I am of this group,” captain Sean Zawadski said. “The way to respond from last weekend to today is phenomenal. But now this is a standard that we have to maintain. Obviously, we know we have another big game Wednesday against D.C. [United] on the road, so now that's everything on our mind. We'll watch the game, the good things and the bad from this game, and we'll look forward to D.C. Wednesday.”
As the captain said, there’s still plenty of work to do for the Crew, as the club returns to midweek action on Wednesday. But after a hectic week of non-stop soccer, Saturday performance made it clear what this Black & Gold side can achieve with more time to rest, recover and integrate new players.
“We gave them two days off because the last month-ish has been insane – think about the flights, the jet lags, the competitions, the ones that I had to push a little bit harder, the new ones that need to learn pretty fast and emotional fatigue of losing a few guys that you had in your locker room for years,” Courtois said. “It's been draining. We focused on recovery. We didn't train yesterday because of the storms. We only did a rondo and we had a big video meeting, but we were only able to do a rondo. We only trained [Wednesday and] Thursday, and [Thursday] was 25 minutes.”
