4-0 Win Caps Off Emotional Send-Off For Aidan Morris
Columbus Crew completes 4-0 route of Sporting Kansas City
Despite Sporting Kansas City’s poor league record heading into this game against our Black and Gold, I will have to say that I expected a lot more than what they provided. Nonetheless, your Columbus Crew walked off the Lower.com pitch with a healthy 3 points and increased confidence heading into their away day against the New England Revolution and former Columbus Crew Head Coach and 2x MLS Cup Champion Caleb Porter.
Image Credit: Kansas City Star. Aidan Morris leaves the field for the final time.
SKC was a perfect refresher though following our 5 game away stand which started with four impressive wins and a rather deflated showing against Inter Miami, which made the scoreline here even more important. In full honesty, Sporting KC never threatened on the night. Both Stephen Afrifa and Willy Agada had a flew glances at goal early on due to some stray passes that left The Crew a bit vulnerable on the counter, but each chance was either sent well wide or contained comfortably by The Crew backline, who shored up their efforts and played a near perfect game following the 30th minute. Massive props need to be given out to all three of Steven Moreira, Rudy Camacho, and Yevhen Cheberko, who worked incredibly well together on the night with Cheberko and Moreira often pressing high into the midfield and overloading the stagnant Sporting KC midfield.
Max Arfsten out wide has also been making a case for a starting role, as he assisted Cucho for the first goal of the game and the first goal for Cucho’s hat-trick performance. This now puts him on 2 goals and 1 assist for the year from his defensive wingback role, and his consistency on the field, coupled with his ability to sneak in behind defenders, find himself often in open positions, and still track back defensively, has him as one of my top Crew performers on the season, and I would love to see him take that starting role as how own in the near future.
Up top, Cucho stood out with another scintillating performance as he snagged his first hat-trick of the year, with the best of the bunch being his free-kick that wrong footed the already demoralized John Pulskamp in goal. Christian Ramirez was also able to join in on the fun, as he supplied the lone goal outside of Cucho’s 3 that handed The Crew the 4-0 win on the night. The Ramirez/Cucho duo up top, specifically for this game, felt an important piece of the winning plan, as Cucho’s presence and playmaking ability coupled with Ramirez’s bulky build allowed Ramirez to create space for Cucho often, and you never have to give Cucho a second invitation with space and time in the box. Seeing Ramirez up top alongside Cucho with Rossi behind may be a new trio that we see often and could be another winning recipe heading away to New England, who have a pretty sluggish pairing of starting center-backs in Dave Romey and Xavier Arreaga, who will likely start against The Crew next week.
Last, and certainly not least, we say goodbye to Columbus Homegrown and club favorite Aidan Morris, as he departs the sparking lights of the dot for Middlesbrough in the EFL Championship. With 104 games, countless important goals, impressive performances, heartfelt moments, and 2 MLS Cups, it’s going to be hard to even think about replacing him, but it’s going to be even harder to say goodbye. The ceremony and all the appreciation at the stadium were massive, and the final curtain call as fans chanted “THANK YOU, AIDAN” leaves everyone with the lasting impression of just how important he was to the club not only as a player, but as a person too.
Thank you, Aidan, for everything you have done for the club. We wish you the best on your new journey.
On to New England!