As the home opener kicked off, a massive tifo reading, “Vive la Créwvolution” hung from the rafters covering the central portion of The Nordecke. On the tifo were images of the players, the supporters and Wilfried Nancy, the Crew’s new head coach.
Crewsmas against D.C. United wasn’t just a celebration because the Black & Gold are back playing in Columbus; it was the beginning of what will hopefully be a successful reign for Nancy. And if the Frenchman’s first home match was any indication off what’s to come, plenty of exhilarating, high-octane moments await.
The Crew produced an entertaining performance Saturday night against D.C. United, as Columbus won, 2-0, at Lower.com Field in Nancy’s home debut.
“I’m really grateful for that,” the head coach said of the fans embracing him and the players. “Thank you to the fans for the tifo that they did. This is amazing. I also do this job because of that. I do this job to get emotions, personally. When I came in and I saw that, I wanted to play.”
The Crew opened the scoring in the 10th minute from a world-class goal. Cucho Hernández crossed it into the box, where Lucas Zelarayán took a touch, rounded Russell Canouse and slotted the ball toward the back post, sending The Nordecke into a frenzy as plumes of smoke filled the chilly air.
Zelarayán then produced his second in the 44th minute when Alex Matan played a perfectly-weighted pass into the box. Zelarayán, who started his run centrally but ran toward the corner of the 6-yard box, only need one touch to smash the ball toward the back post for a second breath-taking goal.
“This is something that we’ve been working on, and today in terms of execution, it was better,” Nancy said of the attacking connections. “This is what we want to do. We want to attack the box when there is a good moment, and to recognize when we cannot attack the box, to go keep the ball and go around.”
When the Crew possessed the ball, it’d spring into attack with aggression. Runs were purposeful, yet creative. In short, the side was difficult for the visitors to manage. Nancy said fans should expect more of that, but also more opportunities for the Crew to slow down play and possess the ball to build attacks.
D.C. United did have a decent opportunity to score in the first half, but Christian Benteke’s thundering header grazed the roof of the net. Other than that, the Crew backline quieted the opposition to earn a clean sheet and first win of the young season.
Saturday night was encouraging and it was a strong start for Nancy. If supporters will be treated to more nights like Crewsmas, then vive le Crewvolution.
COURTESY CREW COMMUNICATIONS
