Columbus continues its pursuit of one win against high-scoring Nashville

After scoring two goals in each of the first two games but losing due to an inability to stop counterattacks, the Columbus Crew fixed those weaknesses last week but still fell short of an elusive first win as the offense failed to find the back of the net.

Columbus will look to combine a powerful offense with a stingy defense Saturday night when it welcomes Nashville SC to Central Ohio.

The Crew (0-1-2, 2 points) changed their formation against the Chicago Fire, using a 4-4-2 instead of the 3-4-3 they used in their 2-2 draw at Sporting Kansas City the week before.

First-year coach Henrik Rydstrom said the extra defenders gave his team a chance to stay behind the ball.

“When they tried to get into our penalty box, we had a good chance of defending and we did that,” he said. “…we were solid defensively and hard to break down.”

The new formation failed to stifle offensive opportunities as Columbus held the advantage in total shots (14-8) and shots on frame (5-3). However, Wessam Abou Ali and Diego Rossi were left off the scoresheet for the first time after scoring goals each in the first two games.

Meanwhile, Nashville (2-0-1, 7 points) won 3-1 against Minnesota last Saturday behind a brace from Sam Surridge and a marker from Christian Espinoza. No player in MLS has scored more home goals than Surridge’s 17 since the start of last year.

But the emergence of Espinoza, who spent the previous seven seasons in San Jose, as a key contributor for his new team could mean trouble for the rest of the league.

Espinoza, Surridge, and Hany Mukhtar provide the strong nucleus every team wants.

“We’re confident that if we continue to give our players good scoring opportunities, we’ll continue to score goals,” Nashville coach BJ Callaghan said.

Nashville’s seven goals are fourth-most in MLS, and its two goals against are tied for fourth-most.

–Field level media