It's match day, and New York City FC are in the Buckeye State to face Columbus Crew in the Leagues Cup Quarterfinals at Lower.com Field. NYCFC made it here after an energizing 1-2 upset win over Liga MX giants Tigres UANL, while Columbus punched their ticket after a 3-2 comeback win over 2023 Leagues Cup champions Inter Miami.
Columbus currently sit third in the Eastern Conference, but there's an argument to be made that they are the best team in Major League Soccer right now. The 2023 MLS Cup winners are firing on all cylinders, and have a record of 7W-1-D-2L in their last 10 games in all competitions with 30 goals scored and just nine goals allowed. That run of games includes dominant 4-0 home wins over Sporting Kansas City (twice) and Toronto FC, and impressive 1-5 away wins over LAFC and New England Revolution.
• Leagues Cup Quarterfinals: Columbus Crew vs New York City FC
• Date and Time: Saturday, August 17, 6 pm ET
• Venue: Lower.com Field
• Forecast: Warm, increasing humidity, chance of showers, 82F/28C
• Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
• Apple Broadcast Team: Jake Zivin and Taylor Twellman, Sammy Sadovnik and Diego Valeri (Spanish)
• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)
• Officiating Crew: Joe Dickerson (referee), Corey Parker and Logan Brown (assistant referees), Rubiel Vázquez (fourth official), Daniel Radford (VAR)
New York City's recent record is a less-than-imperious 3W-5D-2L with an anemic 11 goals scored and 11 allowed. Although it should be noted that seven of those games were on the road, and six were on short rest.
But momentum is on NYCFC's side after outplaying a top-seeded Tigres who were riding a five-game winning streak, and who were considered to be a favorite to win the tournament.
New York City vs Columbus H2H
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 42 | 42 | 0 |
Columbus has the edge in the head-to-head between the teams, with 10 wins in 24 games played.
The most recent matchup was the controversy-filled Columbus win over New York City at Yankee Stadium. In that game, after Mitja Ilenič earned a red card in the 39th minute, a short-handed NYCFC took the lead only to fall behind and ultimately lose 2-3. Later, PRO Referees ruled that what proved to be the game-winning penalty was incorrectly awarded to Columbus. Whoops!
Interestingly, last year a not-great NYCFC drew a Columbus that won the MLS Cup both times they faced each other. First, there was the 1-1 draw at Yankee Stadium courtesy of a 94th-minute goal by Gabe Segal of NYCFC. Then there was the 1-1 draw at Lower.com Field courtesy of a 94th-minute goal by Sean Zawadzki of Columbus — That game saw 11 cards and three red cards, including one shown to Wilfried Nancy in the 86th minute.
Oliver Strand
New York City FC
• Player Availability: Forward Malachi Jones (leg) and midfielder Andrés Perea (leg) remain out.
• New York City are feeling energized by a Tigres win that some pundits are calling the biggest result of the year, and maybe of Head Coach Nick Cushing's career. If the game is decided on vibes, you have to like NYCFC's chances.
• But games are decided on goals, and New York City are still figuring out how to find the back of the net. The team have five goals in four Leagues Cup games, which works out to 1.25 goals per game. It's not terrible?
Columbus Crew
• Player Availability: Backup goalkeeper Evan Bush (arm) and left-back DeJuan Jones (hamstring) are out.
• Speaking of games decided by goals, Columbus scored seven in two Leagues Cup games — midfielder Diego Rossi has four of those, which puts him in second place in the Leagues Cup Golden Boot race. That works out to 3.5 goals per game, which is (checks notes) really good.
• Games are also decided by not letting in goals, and Columbus have allowed two in two games, both played at home. Believe it or not, that 1.0 goal allowed per game is actually a poor showing for the club: In MLS league play, Columbus have allowed just seven goals in 12 games at home, which works out to 0.58 goals allowed per game.
• Itching to know more about Columbus? Our Matthew Mangam spoke to Ty Fisher of Massive Report to learn about the crew's recent form, and why home-field advantage could be the decider. Read more in "Oppo Research: 5 Things about Columbus Crew."
Matthew Mangam
