Diego Rossi has first multi-goal outing with Crew in 2-0 victory vs Orlando: 2 takeaways
It took over a month from the beginning of the Crew's season for Diego Rossi to score his first goal in 2024. Now, with Rossi's two goals against Orlando City SC in Columbus' 2-0 victory on Saturday, he has taken over as the club's leading scorer with 7 goals across MLS and CONCACAF Champions Cup play.
Rossi's hot streak, with four goals in three matches, comes during the absence of Cucho Hernandez, who scored 6 goals before being sidelined three games with a back injury.
Replay: Diego Rossi records both goals in Columbus Crew 2-0 victory over Orlando City SC
But prior to this stretch, the forward was struggling in league action. That remained the case even after he recorded his first goal of the year in the first leg of the Champions Cup quarterfinals on April 2 and became the Crew's top contributor in the CONCACAF tournament.
"This is the cycle of a forward," said coach Wilfried Nancy. "Sometimes he has moments that he should score, but sometimes he has to believe in himself. We are all behind him."
Once Rossi scored his first MLS goal on May 15 against CF Montreal, he started connecting on opportunities he had failed to capitalize on earlier.
Rossi's first goal Orlando, for instance, was off a penalty kick in the first half, but this wasn't his first attempt of the season. Against Nashville SC, Rossi missed what would have been the game-winning penalty kick in Columbus' 2-2 draw.
"I told you this is a cycle," Nancy said. "The PK, in the beginning of the year when he was not confident because he missed a few chances, he missed the PK. But now, he feels good, that's why it's logical that he scored the PK."
Here are two takeaways from the Crew vs Orlando:
It's fair to continue expecting more from Diego Rossi, Wilfried Nancy will be
Rossi is starting to perform at the level people expect from a former MLS Golden Boot winner earning upward of $3,000,000.
"I don't feel the difference," Rossi said. "Obviously, I didn't score in the first games of the season, but I kept calm and kept training and working hard, because I was doing good things without scoring."
Nancy also saw positives in Rossi's play before the recent scoring spree, but there is still more the Crew coach expects from him.
"I challenge him because I know he can do better," Nancy said. "He lost a few balls. He's really demanding of himself, and we're going to show him pictures that we know that he can improve. What I like about him is that he wants to improve all the time."
It's not the first time Nancy has asked for more from Rossi. Following the Crew's 3-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on May 18, he had some notes for Rossi to go along with praise for his goal. Nancy felt Rossi could have made the stop during the corner kick play that Chicago scored its lone goal on.
Columbus Crew benefit from rectified missed call, despite confusion
In the first half, officials went to VAR review after defender Steven Moreira clearly hit Orlando's Luis Muriel in the box, which would have meant a penalty kick. There was also the possibility that officials could rule Jacen Russell-Rowe suffered a foul upfield before Muriel got into the box.
What ended up being called was a penalty on Orlando's Cesar Araujo, who had taken down Aidan Morris in Orlando's box.
"I saw Aidan when the ball was served, kind on the ground and stood up throwing his hands up asking for a penalty," goalkeeper Patrick Schulte said. "I think when they gave us the penalty .... I was a little confused. I thought they were going back and checking if there was a foul at the half on Jacen (Russell-Rowe). Didn't realize it was all the same play."
The review ultimately led to Columbus being awarded a penalty kick.
After officials missed a penalty against FC Cincinnati earlier this month, Nancy took a philosophical approach, saying that calls could be missed and go the other direction. But he felt from the moment Morris was fouled, it should be a clear penalty kick for Columbus.
As for Moreira getting a pass for committing a foul against Muriel?
"No, no," Nancy said. "He didn't know it was a PK for us."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew relay on Diego Rossi to defeat Orlando City: Takeaways
