Columbus Crew put on 'clinic of competitive spirit' in playoff win over FC Cincinnati
CINCINNATI – The Crew’s tradition of standing arm in arm in front of the Nordecke at Lower.com Field and being regaled by their most boisterous boosters with “Wise Men Say” is a sensory delight, even for the most jaded of human beings (cough, cough). When the lyric “I can’t help falling in love with Crew” transits to the rat-a-tat “Columbus” chant, the old spirit of the game, the confluence of club and city, has a visceral reality.
Multiply it by 1,000 and that's what it was like at TQL Stadium Saturday night. The Crew came from two goals down, one of which was the product of a ghastly call, scored twice in the second half and beat FC Cincinnati, 3-2, in extra time. This was the ultimate Hell is Real derby-darby, the MLS Eastern Conference final.
After the trophy presentation, with all the confetti cannons and fireworks and other foofaraw, after Apple TV’s coverage shifted to Los Angeles for the West final, the Crew players made their way over to the southeast corner of this grand Porkopolis arena. Located there was the traveling contingent of fans, some of whom probably stopped to take pictures of the “Hell is Real” sign, from which the rivalry gets its name, on I-71. Tickets are strictly limited for visitors, and there were only 200-300 fans there, bedecked in Black & Banana Yellow, bunched in the corner.
Such a rendition of “Wise Men Say” has never been so affective or, for that matter, as loud. It was a pure a cappella, with no prompts. It rang out into the cool night, augmented by the full complement of players’ voices.
It was one of those nights that give you pause to say, “Wait, what just happened?” FC Cincinnati might have been missing Matt Miazga, the MLS Defender of the Year, who was suspended after making the brilliant decision to go into the officials’ locker room to perform his own a cappella on the referees after he took a red card two weeks ago. FC Cincinnati might have been thin in back, and they had only the limited services of injured DP midfielder Obinna Nwobodo. But still, this was the best team in the league, with the MVP in Lucho Acosta, and the best home record in the league. And they were playing at home with a two-goal lead.
“It (the rivalry) can’t get any bigger than this,” captain Darlington Nagbe said. “Now, one more to go.”
This was the Crew, who have been known for three things: prolific offense, late-game mistakes and an inability to win on the road. And what do they do? They beat the East’s No. 2 seed Orlando in Orlando in extra time last week, and they come back to knock off the Supporters’ Shield winners in Hell is as Real as it Gets.
“It was a clinic of competitive spirit,” Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said, surrounded by his family, amid a field of confetti.
“All the players were tired, but they found a way to push and to push and to push,” he said. “I am very happy. That is the competitive spirit. We lost a bit of confidence, but at the same time, we were humble enough to overcome it. To do it on this field, in Cincinnati … wow. I am happy for the fans, for the city, for the organization.
“Now, we have one more game.”
The Crew, No. 3 in the East, are the highest remaining seed in the tournament. Thus, they will host the MLS Cup championship game Dec. 9. It’ll be the third time the game has been in Columbus. Led by Caleb Porter, they whipped mighty Seattle in a mostly empty Historic Crew Stadium in the pandemic season of 2020. Led by Gregg Berhalter, they fell to the Portland Timbers in the old stadium in 2015.
Nancy outcoached Pat Noonan in Noonan’s living room, just as he’d outcoached chess master Oscar Paneda in Orlando the week previous. From the 65th minute to the 111th, Nancy pulled from the bench wing back Julian Gressel, striker Christian Ramirez, multitool Sean Zawadzki (he slotted in at center back on this night), defender Yevhen Cheberko and Kevin Molino.
Each had a degree of impact.
“We were just fit enough to push on the gas pedal,” said Crew president/general manager Tim Bezbatchenko, a Columbus native who wore a tux to a Crew game on his high-school prom night to streamline his getaway to St. Francis de Sales.
“They (Cincinnati) capitalized on mistakes in the first half,” he said. “We cleaned things up in the second and it looked like they got tired. At that point, you could feel it was only a matter of time. There’s still more for us to do. But to do this in Cincinnati, it’s unbelievable.”
Raise your scarves to Ramirez, who, with some incredible right-footed service from Gressel, essentially forced an own goal late in the second half and potted the game-winner in extra time – just as he did the week before in Orlando. Raise your scarves to Diego Rossi (there he is), who scored to make it 2-2 in the 86th minute. Go and rewatch the game-winning play, which began with a perfect cross from Molino, who has had his bad moments this season. The cross went directly to the head of the beast, Cucho Hernandez, who re-crossed to the flicking foot of Ramirez.
Let your arms get tired raising your scarf because there are so many to salute. The engines of Aidan Morris and Nagbe, the big saves from Patrick Schulte, the cold professionalism of Gressel, an MLS star who, for the third straight game, was on the bench at kickoff. I could go on and on here.
Go ahead and sing.
Get more Columbus Crew news by listening to our podcasts
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Raise a scarf to Crew 'Hell is Real' playoff win vs. FC Cincinnati
