The Columbus Crew were thorough, comprehensive and borderline dominant Wednesday night at Lower.com Field.
Facing a Thiago Almada-less Atlanta United to begin their Round One Best-of-3 series, the Crew won 2-0 behind Cucho Hernández's brace and held the visiting Five Stripes to one shot (off target).
The Eastern Conference's No. 3 seed, after Game 1, is firmly in the driver's seat.
"We scored goals and we didn't concede," head coach Wilfried Nancy noted afterward. "We were composed. We didn't panic. We stayed on the task. It was difficult to win the ball back, but I felt that we were strong. And I'm really pleased with that, because this is the big step that [the players] did."
Cucho, whose 16 regular-season goals and 11 assists were fourth in the Golden Boot presented by Audi race, made the most of his postseason debut. And while Nancy praised the Colombian striker's attacking performance, capping off a dazzling run with a left-footed zinger (45+1') and slotting home a second-half penalty (51'), his defensive work rate most pleased the manager.
"First half, he ran like a crazy guy, but in a good way. Really smart," Nancy remarked. "He was all the time front foot without the ball. And when we had the ball he was able to put doubt on the opposition, by the run and by asking for the ball into the feet. He helped us to be good without the ball and also with the ball."
Cucho noted postgame: "It was a huge night. It was important to be solid defensively and also solid offensively. The message from the coach was great."
New home, new history
The win marked Columbus' first-ever playoff victory at Lower.com Field. The Crew have qualified for the postseason for the first time since the state-of-the-art venue opened in July 2021, and the atmosphere was fitting for a city that saw their team lift MLS Cup 2020 at Historic Crew Stadium.
"Amazing," Nancy reflected on the atmosphere. "When my players were walking on the pitch, the ones that decided to do [mimics waving towels] was really good. I'm happy when we play at home. We know there is an extra energy. This is good. We're going to have to keep that to do the same when we go away."
Nancy added: "I said this in my first meeting; we want to write a story. We want to create memories for this club, for this organization. Tonight was a good night."
No Almada, no party
Much of Columbus' dominance was down to Almada's absence after seeing a Decision Day red card. With a stunning 11 goals and 19 assists during the regular season, the Argentine World Cup winner has been the seminal piece of the Five Stripes' attack, and the difference in quality without him was stark.
ATLUTD striker Giorgos Giakoumakis, a Newcomer of the Year finalist, was held quiet. As were midseason signings Xande Silva, Saba Lobjanidze and Jamal Thiaré – the latter two brought on as second-half substitutes.
Atlanta's only shot, a 64th-minute effort from Ajani Fortune, missed the target and registered as just 0.07 expected goals, per Stats Perform. The East's No. 6 seed can't get Almada back quickly enough.
"I don’t know if it’ll fix everything. It certainly helps," said goalkeeper Brad Guzan. "Obviously Thiago is a big piece of our team, he’s a big piece on the attacking side of the ball for sure. But we need to look back at this game and try as a group, including Thiago – how do we make sure that we’re firing on all cylinders."
Head coach Gonzalo Pineda was more blunt before his side hosts an all-decisive Game 2 on Nov. 7 (7 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
"Now I think next game we will have Thiago back, we’ll be at the Benz, we’ll be strong," Pineda said. "And we have to be on the front foot. It’s a life-or-death game and we have to go all-in."
