The Columbus Crew took a step in the right direction on Saturday night when they earned a 1-1 draw at Orlando City SC.
It wasn’t just a point on the road, but the return of Diego Rossi and Sean Zawadzki, as well as Lassi Lappalainen. The Crew are improving at the most important time of the season.
“It was good for Sean to come back,” head coach Wilfried Nancy said. “It was good for Diego to come back. I'm happy also for Lassi because he was so important. We know that he was not able to last for a long time, but the idea was to give him the possibility to express himself. In terms of what he did, he was good.
“Good for the team that everyone can have an impact. This is what I'm looking for. This is not only individual players; this is the collective aspect. I think that it was a good game individually, but also, it was a good game collectively. Like I said, it could have been better on certain things, but I really like the personality. We played tonight with personality.”
The visitors opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark when the Crew’s two wingbacks both connected with a clinical goal.
Controlling the ball on the left flank, Lassi Lappalainen played a cross into the area, where Andrés Herrera had a tidy finish to score his third goal of the campaign. The assist was also Lappalainen’s third this season.
Orlando found an equalizer, but Columbus continued to press to reclaim the lead – something we’ve seen so often from the Black & Gold under Nancy.
“I really enjoyed [seeing] that because this is who we are,” the coach said. “As you know, this is not easy to play in Orlando with a big crowd and also a team that doesn't quit. We don't quit. I like all the momentum that we had because we had good momentum. Also, they had the momentum, and we didn't panic.
“This is my team. I told them, ‘This is who we are.’ I think that, yes, the outcome could have been better, but I'm pleased with what I saw. This is something that we can do, and I want them to do it more often.”
With the result, the Black & Gold sit ninth in the Eastern Conference standings with one match remaining in the 2025 MLS regular season.
Decision Day, the final match of the regular season, takes place at Lower.com Field on Oct. 18, when Columbus hosts thew New York Red Bulls in the Ohio capital.
If the table stays as is, the Crew will play a Wild Card match to then face the No. 1 team in the east, the Philadelphia Union.
“That was a good response after the bad game we did against Chicago,” Steven Moreira said. “Yeah, of course, it’s a bit different. It’s frustrating because I feel like we had a lot of chances to score, but I just want to be positive because that was a good response, and we showed who we are tonight.”
