The Columbus Crew added another trophy to the case on Sunday night, knocking off LAFC yet again to win Leagues Cup. This is the third straight win over LAFC for Columbus, besting them in the 2023 MLS Cup Final and the 5-1 drubbing out in LA earlier this season. The game started off well for the Black & Gold, looking dangerous in LAFC’s half and ultimately finding the opener through Cucho Hernandez’s head. The second half was a different story though. LAFC made changes to their gameplan and came at the Crew, now putting Columbus on the back foot. The visitors equalized with an Oliver Giroud header off a corner kick, and the game remained tied until stoppage time. Despite being outclassed in the second 45, the Black & Gold kept pushing and found the go-ahead goal yet again through Hernandez. A counter just a minute later secured the third goal and the Leagues Cup title for Columbus, this time with Hernandez assisting Jacen Russell-Rowe.
It was a game of tactical adjustments by both sides, but it ultimately saw the Black & Gold’s playstyle triumph over LAFC’s. Let’s dive into all the tactics that went into the championship matchup.
Strong start
From the moment the ball was kicked, the Crew were looking dominant as usual. The first half of this game was reminiscent to how the first half of the 2023 MLS Cup Final went, lots of Columbus possession and good chances to build a lead.
The first way the Black & Gold had success was by finding out what LAFC was doing defensively, and then game planning around that. Early on, LAFC was trying to clog the middle of the pitch, playing in a 5-4-1 defensive formation. Both the defensive and midfield line pinched to try and force the Crew to attack from wide areas.
To remedy this, Columbus tweaked their formation to find the passing lanes in the middle of the pitch, while also maintaining width with their wingbacks. The Black & Gold switched to a new looking formation that is very different from how the Crew usually lines up.
Rudy Camacho stayed back as a deep-lying centerback while Malte Amundsen and Steven Moreira would move up field in the channel. Sean Zawadzki sat as a lone central defensive midfielder, while Darlington Nagbe moved up as a left-side no. 10. The defenders and Zawadzki formed a diamond, with Nagbe higher up the field in the attacking midfield space.
One of the front three would also drop into the right attacking midfield space to balance the formation with Nagbe. This meant that the other two attackers would play up top as dueling no. 9’s, with the wingbacks outside of them. This essentially put Columbus into a 3-1-2-4 on offense.
LAFC’s defensive structure also played a massive part in the Black & Gold’s success in the first half. The visitors decided to defend narrow and deep into their own half, not very intent on applying pressure to the Crew in possession. This let Columbus have a lion’s share of the ball and enough time to break down LAFC’s defensive block.
The only time LAFC decided to pressure players in possession was when the centerbacks marked the Black & Gold attackers who were dropping into the midfield. The visitors tried to chase the Crew backwards if they could but were otherwise just content to sit in their block and wait for the counter.
This idea of waiting to counter Columbus did not yield any clear-cut chances for LAFC due to the Black & Gold’s ability to win the ball back quickly after losing it. Camacho and the rest of the defense did a great job in the first half stepping up to break up passes and fending off attackers trying to hold play up on the counter.
Both the Crew’s tactical setup and LAFC’s willingness to sit back led to the Black & Gold building a 1-0 lead in a strong first half showing.
Hanging on in the second half
The second 45 was an entirely different story for the Crew. A compound effect of LAFC deciding to press and Columbus being stubborn in building out of the back made for a touch half for the Black & Gold.
The visitors came out in the second half with a completely different gameplan that hinged on going for the win at the expense of possibly exposing their backline. The gamble paid off from the jump, pressing the Crew and turning them over time after time.
LAFC came out of halftime and began pressing high up the field with five players, with five defenders staying back. Pressing with five matched Columbus’ buildup numbers, with Nagbe sliding back alongside Zawadzki in midfield.
This gave the Black & Gold two options to beat the press, they could have the attackers drop into the passing lanes to receive the ball to their feet or go long overtop. Going direct instead of constantly relying on building out of the back now became the best course of action for the Crew, but they did not adjust.
For much of the second half Columbus kept trying to build out of the back. This led to poor touches, wayward passes and numerous LAFC dangerous attacking moments. Going direct is not the first attacking avenue the Black & Gold want to utilize, but they needed to in the second half.
Because LAFC was up pressuring the Crew’s backline, there was a sizeable gap in the midfield between the visitors attacking and defense. The times Columbus broke the press in the second half was when they dump the ball into a dropping attacker in that space, and then they could go from there.
In the end, the Black & Gold ended up getting away with their poor second half performance due to LAFC’s inability to pressure the Crew in wide areas. Hernadnez was allowed to receive the ball to feet off a throw-in while LAFC was arguing with the referee. This gave him the time and space to pick out a good ball into the box that Russell-Rowe shieled Hugo Lloris from seeing, giving Columbus the go-ahead goal.
Despite being outclassed in the second half, all the Black & Gold needed was one chance to find the winner. Even in a half where they were on the back foot, struggled to get clean touches and looked second best at times, they found a way to get the win. That’s what makes this team so special and hard to gameplan against.
Tactically, LAFC did everything right in the second half. They pressed, forced bad passes and took a chance on a corner. The one thing they did not do was maintain a hard-working attitude for the full 94 minutes. Their inability to step out on Hernandez and close him down on the go-ahead goal tells you all you need to know about these teams.
Columbus has the talent and the work ethic to find ways to win, no matter the situation. That is why they are MLS Cup champions and now Leagues Cup champions, and they do not look like slowing down anytime soon.
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