Columbus Crew v D.C. United: Nancy emotionally and physically drained after hectic week

Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy found their loss to Nashville SC "emotionally and physically" difficult after conceding another early goal.

Sean Zawadzki put the ball in his own net inside the opening two minutes of the 3-0 defeat to their Eastern Conference rivals.

This came after the Crew conceded twice in the opening five minutes, including one in the first 60 seconds, of their 4-2 win against FC Cincinnati four days earlier.

Nancy was disappointed to concede so early on against conference rivals and is hoping to bounce back against the struggling D.C. United next.

"I said to my players, when we make this mistake twice, this is not a mistake; this is a decision," Nancy said after the Nashville match.

"This is so difficult emotionally and physically. The Cincinnati game, we were down 2-0. To come back, physically it was difficult, but also emotionally.

"We start the game, and we start well, and suddenly, we concede a goal because of a lack of communication and decision-making a little bit quicker.

"It was not a good start. The second goal, also on transition, really well played the two really beautiful balls that they put. Again, we have to be better because we were in between, so we got punished.

"To come back, yes, we were close maybe to score a goal, but we didn't do it. This is so difficult."

A home fixture against 14th-place D.C. could be the best way to regain some momentum for Columbus, as the visitors have not won in their last six MLS games.

They recently parted ways with head coach Troy Lesesne, and D.C. will be hoping to end their winless streak ahead of new coach Rene Weiler stepping into the dugout.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi

Diego Rossi has been a key performer for Columbus this season. The attacking midfielder is the side's top scorer with 11 goals.

He has scored six goals in his five career regular-season matches against D.C. United. Among all the players who have faced D.C. at least five times in the regular season, Rossi is the only one with more goals than matches played.

D.C. United – Gabriel Pirani

Despite D.C.'s recent form, 23-year-old Gabriel Pirani has offered his side some hope moving forward.

The Brazilian attacker has scored in each of his last three games in all competitions and found the net five times since returning from injury at the end of May.

MATCH PREDICTION – COLUMBUS CREW WIN

Columbus are unbeaten in seven straight home matches (W5 D2), including winning three in a row at Lower.com Field. In league play, the Crew have suffered just one defeat in their last 14 home matches, dating back to last October (W9 D4).

D.C. have lost three straight road MLS matches, most recently a 2-1 defeat against Charlotte FC. D.C. have not had a longer league road losing streak in a single season since a six-game drought in July-August 2022.

Columbus have not lost any of their last eight meetings with D.C. United (W5 D3) dating back to October 2021. It is the Crew's longest-ever unbeaten run in the series and the longest by either team since D.C. had an eight-match run in 2005-07.

In their last six league matches, Columbus have won four, drawn one and lost one. D.C., meanwhile, have drawn one and lost five in their last six.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Columbus Crew – 75.7%

Draw – 14.4%

D.C. United – 9.9%