The Columbus Crew captured the 2023 MLS Cup championship with a rainy 2-1 win over visiting LAFC, taking home it’s second trophy since 2020. In front of a crowd of over 20,000 the Crew pulled to an early 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to a 33rd minute penalty kick by striker (and 16 goal regular season scorer) Cucho Hernandez followed by Yaw Yaboah’s 37th minute strike from the last side after slipping past the defense unnoticed, electrifying the sold out crowd.
The second half saw pressure from LAFC in a desperate attempt to close the gap, finally cutting the lead to 2-1 as Golden Boot Winner Denis Bouanga picked up his own rebound and tapped in a left footed shot at the 74th minute to cut the lead in half. In the end however the Crew held on and dethroned the 2022 champion. Being a stat nerd that I am, 4 stats below to use around the water cooler or to gripe about on the local subreddit:
4 STATS
1) Columbus straight dominated Corner Kick numbers, having 9 to LAFC’s 1.
2) Despite the goal by Golden Boot Winner Denis Bouanga, LAFC was held to only a single goal in 4 of their final 4 matches. Their match against Houston they scored 2.
3) In all 5 playoff matches, LAFC had 15 or more fouls, with the MLS Cup finals ending with a playoff high 19.
4) Cucho’s final MLS Playoff Stats: 6 matches, 5 goals, 2 assists, 16 shots on goal.