By Josue Lopez
The 2023 Major League Soccer final had two outstanding teams at Lower.com Field; Columbus Crew, a historic franchise that was about to disappear two years ago; and Los Angeles Football Club; defender MLS champs seeking to win a back-to-back title playing their third final through this season. LAFC has played more than 50 games during 2023.
The Black and Gold came with its traditional 4-3-3: Maxime Crepeau in goal. Giorgio Chiellini and Jesus Murillo as center-backs; Diego Palacios and Rayan Hollingshead on the sides; Ilie Sanchez, Timothy Tilman, and Kellyn Acosta in the midfield; and the three in front were Carlos Vela, Cristian Olivera and MLS Golden Boot Denis Bouanga.
The Crew had Patrick Schulte in goal; Rudy Camacho, Malte Amundsen, Mohamed Farsi, and Steven Moreira on defense; Darlington Nagbe ©, Aidan Morris, and Yaw Yeboah, Alexandru Matan in the midfield; and the dynamic attack of Diego Rossi and Juan Camilo “Cucho” Hernandez.
The first half belonged to the home team, and it mainly defined the final result. The ball belonged to the home team, The ownership of the midfield led by Yaw Yeboah was well capitalized by a penalty kick by “Cucho” after a handball by Diego Palacios, and an outstanding definition by the same Yeboah with a beautiful assist by Malte Amundsen.
The second half had a timid reaction by the Black and Gold. Filip Krastev and Matheus Bogusz were brought to the midfield to bring a different approach, and Mario Gonzalez received yet another opportunity to score his second goal for the Black and Gold. As it was throughout the season, individualities such as Denis Bouanga, who scored his 38th goal of the season, brought some hope to the visitors. However, the final score was 2-1 and thus the MLS Cup trophy went straight to Ohio.
Columbus Crew went from almost disappearing to becoming a third MLS Cup title winner. Diego Rossi and Cristian Ramirez, former LAFC players with different journeys while wearing the Black and Gold jersey,