Wilfried Nancy has called for cohesion and understanding from MLS decision-makers after the Columbus Crew were forced to play with midfielder Sean Zawadzki in goal in their 4-0 defeat to the Seattle Sounders.

Abraham Romero saw red at the end of the first half, and with both Patrick Schulte and Nicholas Hagen away on international duty, Zawadzki found himself wearing the gloves.

Romero was the Crew’s only goalkeeper in the matchday squad as players from Columbus’ reserve side can only be called up four times before signing a professional contract. 

Nancy asked MLS to allow an additional call-up for a backup goalkeeper but that request was rejected, leaving the Crew head coach furious at the full-time whistle.

“We are at 39 matches played,” Nancy said. “We were mandated to have three goalkeepers on the teamsheet. This is what we did. We had to use a call-up for a friendly game against Aston Villa.

“Why I'm not happy before the game and all the week it happened, I was not happy about that because there is a rule, as you know, we can use only four times, four call-ups [for] one player from the reserve team who has a contract.

“You know the issue that we had with the goalkeepers with Evan Bush. We tried to anticipate, adding a fourth goalkeeper, knowing that we could have a situation like this.

“When we asked before the game to have another call-up for our goalkeeper for the reserve team, they said no, knowing that this game [against] Seattle we were supposed to play in [May].”

Cincinnati, meanwhile, bounced back from their defeat to Inter Miami in style, comfortably dispatching CF Montreal 4-1 at the TQL Stadium last time out.

Pat Noonan’s side know the magnitude of their encounter this weekend, as a defeat would allow their opponents to leapfrog them in the Eastern Conference standings into second, with the Crew also having a game in hand.

While the pressure is seemingly on the hosts, Noonan is relishing the challenge of facing the Leagues Cup winners on home soil.

“Really pleased with the response from the last performance and just the overall play from our guys,” Noonan said.

“I thought on both sides of the ball they were outstanding – maybe a little bit fortunate on some of those goals – but I am very pleased with the outcome and how the guys stepped up.”

“We know the challenges that'll be ahead of us. The group can go win a game, it'll be a challenging match, but one that you have to be excited about.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta

Acosta has scored five times for FC Cincinnati against the Crew, tied for the most goals scored by a Cincinnati player against any opponent in MLS play.

The Argentine has also netted five goals against Toronto FC, with Brandon Vazquez also striking five times against Inter Miami.

Columbus Crew – Diego Rossi

With Columbus’ array of attacking options, Rossi has been the standout, registering 19 goals and eight assists in all competitions, netting six times in their Leagues Cup success.

But across his two spells in MLS with the Crew and Los Angeles FC, the Uruguayan has failed to score against five opponents, with Cincinnati being one of them.

MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN

After starting the season winless in four on the road (D3, L1), Columbus have won seven of their last nine regular-season away games (L2). The seven away victories are the most the Crew have ever recorded in a single regular season.

However, they come into the encounter off the back of a 4-0 loss to the Sounders, their heaviest defeat since 2018. The Crew also have not lost consecutive matches in all competitions since a three-match losing streak last May.

Cincinnati also boast an impressive home record against this weekend’s opponents. They are unbeaten in five straight regular-season matches on home soil against the Crew (W2 D3) but did lose last season’s Eastern Conference Final at TQL Stadium.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Cincinnati – 29.4%

Draw – 24.7%

Columbus Crew – 45.9%