Another three-in-eight match stretch stands ahead of Columbus Crew SC as the Black & Gold hit the road on May 4 against D.C. United before back-to-back home matches against the top two teams in the Western Conference in LAFC and the LA Galaxy.
First up, the Crew (4-5-1, 13 pts.) head to Audi Field to take on a D.C. team that has a plus-three goal differential overall, but only a plus-one margin at home, with their most recent home bout ending in a 2-0 loss to NYCFC. Following the Crew's 1-0 loss to D.C. United at MAPFRE Stadium on April 24, D.C. pushed its clean-sheet total to five on the year, tied for first in Major League Soccer.
Four days later, Crew SC welcomes the LA Galaxy to MAPFRE Stadium in what will be Gyasi Zardes’ first home match against his former side since joining the Crew in 2018. With a total of 15 goals on the year – which ranks top-10 in MLS – it's actually the Galaxy's the defense that stands out, having allowed just eight goals this season, which remains tied for a League-low
From there, the turnaround again remains quick as the Crew go from hosting an LA original to an LA newcomer in LAFC on Saturday, May 11 in what, statistically-speaking, will be the Club’s toughest match-up to date. Currently, LAFC stands with 26 goals scored, seven more than the next-closest team in the League, with a remarkable 11 of them coming from Carlos Vela, who has nearly tied his total of 14 from last year. At this rate, Vela is on pace to score 37 goals in MLS regular-season play, with the single regular-season record standing at 31 (Josef Martinez – 2018).
Kickoff at D.C. United is set for 8 p.m. ET on SportsTime Ohio and 1460 AM ESPN Columbus. Fans can also stream the match on FOX Sports GO, or stream English and Spanish audio on 971TheFan.com and ColumbusCrewSC.com.
