The Columbus Crew returned to MLS action on Sunday night in explosive fashion, beating Ohio rivals and league-leading FC Cincinnati 3-0 to claim this edition of the Hell Is Real Derby at Lower.com Field.
It was a dominant performance from the Black & Gold, jumping on Cincinnati from the opening kick off until midfielder Aidan Morris scored the opener from outside the penalty box. A mere eight minutes later, forward Cucho Hernandez doubled the lead from the penalty spot that sent Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano the wrong way. Columbus held that lead the entire second half before substitute Jacen Russel-Rowe added a third goal in stoppage time to put the final nail in Cincinnati’s coffin.
Although Wilfried Nancy was not on the touchline for this match due to a suspension, his tactical fingerprints were all over the game. The Crew did not change much about the team’s style but added a few wrinkles that helped dominate Cincinnati.
Let’s dive into those tactical choices.
Darlington Nagbe’s positioning to overload the right side
The Black & Gold came out with a similar lineup to many games in recent weeks, a 3-4-1-2 with wing backs that get up and down the pitch. A staple of this formational setup is the two central midfielders in the center, Morris and Nagbe.
Typically, both midfielders shift from side to side as the ball is moved around the back, but that was not the case on Sunday night. Nagbe was instead the focal point of the entire offense against Cincinnati, and he played that role well. On offense, the MLS veteran shifted out wide to the right, sometimes as a half-pivot, to create an overload on the right side of the pitch.
Since the signing of wing back Julian Gressel, Columbus has not hidden that the team is trying to get him the ball in dangerous spaces to find the front three out wide. Shifting Nagbe over on the right creates an overload that springs Gressel to fly down the wing and get into a crossing area.
Not every time Nagbe slid over resulted in Gressel being freed up though. But the former U.S. international midfielder did a good job of his second option, taking on defenders.
If Gressel was continually marked by Cincinnati despite Nagbe coming and overloading the right side, the Black & Gold midfielder turned into space and tried to break forward with pace.
Expect to see more of Nagbe shading over towards the right side when Gressel is on the field because it will lead to more chances for Columbus.
Steven Moreira joining the attack in midfield
We saw a glimpse of what Moreira did on Sunday in the Black & Gold’s Leagues Cup game against Club América earlier this summer. In that game, Moreira played a one-two with the center forward and scored, making a run all the way from his center back position.
Against Cincinnati, the Frenchman didn’t score, but he had more of an attacking presence than usual, and it was for the same reason that Nagbe moved out to the right.
When Nagbe shifted to the right, Morris was alone in the center of midfield. As the Crew got higher up the pitch, Moreira vacated his center back spot to join Morris and Nagbe in midfield to create yet another overload.
At points, the Black & Gold defender even found himself in a center forward position, but he was usually anchoring the midfield on the right side so Nagbe could roam and create overloads with ease.
This had offensive benefits, but defensive blowback if Cincinnati could exploit Columbus on the counter attack.
Luckily for the Crew, Sean Zwadzki had a productive game at center back and shut down a number of counter attacks.
Another player who shined was Morris, who was involved in the attack and then sprinted 70 yards to make a transition tackle so that Luciano Acosta and Brandon Vazquez couldn’t make the Black & Gold pay.
When new addition Rudy Camacho is implemented into the first team and gets comfortable at his center back role, Moreira might have more freedom to get forward and help out in attack. Only time will tell if the Frenchman can do what he did against Cincinnati on a consistent basis.
Diego Rossi’s playstyle
Columbus fans got to see the debut of Diego Rossi on Sunday. After Lucas Zelarayan’s departure, there was a lot of speculation about how the Uruguayan international would fit into the squad and fans got a glimpse of the Rossi era in the game against Cincinnati.
Rossi came in for Alexandru Matan in the middle of the second half and started out occupying the attacking midfielder space, but didn’t stay there. He was free to roam the pitch and often found spaces out wide and up front as a No. 9. Hernandez and even Christian Ramirez dropped occasionally into the attacking midfielder space to form a more fluid front three that can move freely.
Despite Rossi beginning to occupy the space that Zelarayan once did, he has a completely different playstyle as a No. 10 to the Armenian international. Zelarayan wants the ball to his feet at all times to turn and run at defenders with pace. Rossi, on the other hand, is a forward who can pass the ball before making runs in behind to try and split the defense.
This is where Hernandez and Ramirez had the opportunity to drop into the space Rossi vacated and get the ball. A very fluid front three has to have good chemistry or the free-roaming style will not work. It looked pretty clean on Sunday, and fans can only assume that it will get better.
No, Diego Rossi is not Lucas Zelarayan, but he will unlock different things for this team due to his different style of play. Columbus’ potent attack keeps getting better, and we can only keep expecting more goals.
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