Crew Coverage pres. by Medical Mutual | Nancy: Crew ‘really good’ after third-straight win

The on-field fireworks kicked off later than everyone wanted, but Wednesday night was another example of the Columbus Crew beating opponents competently, as the Black & Gold won, 2-0, against Nashville SC at Lower.com Field.

Using the same starting XI as the 5-1 win at the New England Revolution this past Saturday, head coach Wilfried Nancy’s men won a third-straight game thanks to a clean sheet and goal contributions from the attacking trio of Christian Ramirez, Diego Rossi and Cucho Hernández.

The Crew took a first-half lead at the half-hour mark when Ramirez nodded in his fourth goal of the season. After taking a short corner, Rossi played a cross into the box, where Cucho controlled the ball and lofted it back into the 6-yard box, where Ramirez was there to score his fourth goal in the last six matches.

Rossi produced the second in the 65th minute as the Crew worked from back-to-front for Rossi to score a sixth goal in his last seven league appearances.

Once Patrick Schulte rolled the ball to the backline, Rossi collected it at the midfield stripe, then played it to Cucho, who played a through ball toward Yaw Yeboah. The Ghanian then played a through ball in for Rossi, who coolly slotted the ball home – as the Columbus fireworks blasted in the background.

“I think it was a good play from the team,” Rossi said of the goal. “Yeah, it was a good play that we built up from the back. I see that space and it was good to score to help the team to get this win.”

The Crew are now third in the Eastern Conference standings with 36 points from 19 games. Inter Miami CF leads the league with 47 points – but has played three more matches than the defending champs.

However, standings don’t mean much in early July.

The truth is that Columbus has won seven-of-its-last-eight games, claiming 21 from a possible 24 points. A club that once sat on the fringe of the postseason line – simply because it had played fewer matches – is now the league’s hottest side … again. The key moving forward is how the team can maintain this momentum.

“I'm going to talk about the present moment because it's a fact: They are really good,” Nancy said of the Crew. “They are really good. …We are going to try to do everything to help them to stay like this because for me, it's a key point. It's a key point about the way we want to play.”

Hopefully, the trend continues Saturday night when the Crew host Toronto FC in a Trillium Cup matchup at Lower.com Field.