Football: Nigerian attacker makes MLS history for Columbus Crew
by Devesh Jaganath | by Devesh Jaganath
Ibrahim Aliyu nets MLS record-breaking goal for Crew
After finishing in second place in the Eastern Conference standings in the regular season last year, the Columbus Crew have gotten off to a mixed start this term, currently in fourth place with 31 points after 18 league games.
The Crew have posted a record of eight wins, seven draws and three defeats ahead of their midweek clash against Atlanta - you can check out our Columbus Crew vs Atlanta United prediction for our experts' thoughts and insights before kickoff.
Last week, Wilfried Nancy’s side played host to the Vancouver Whitecaps, who have been in stellar form this season, and entered the match on an 11-match unbeaten run while holding a five-point advantage over San Diego at the top of the Western Conference.
Aliyu, who arrived at Lower.com Field in April this year from the Houston Dynamos, was handed just his fifth start for his new employers and opened the scoring for the Crew in only 68 seconds after the first whistle.
Not only was that strike the 22-year-old’s second for Columbus and helped them bring an end to a painful six-match run without victory, but it was also the second-fastest ever scored by a Crew player in the club’s history in the MLS.
The Nigerian thought he had doubled his tally for the match in the second half when he stuck a second in the back of the net, but he was left visibly frustrated after play was pulled back for offside. Still, the victory was a deserved one for the Crew, as Nancy mentioned in his post-match press conference:
Aliyu was born in Kano and began his career in the Nigerian league before securing a move to Lokomotive Zagreb in 2020. He also spent time at Dinamo Zagreb and Hadjuk Split before moving to the US in April 2023.
Crew’s Max Arfsten shines for USMNT in Gold Cup
While much of recent attention has been focused on the FIFA Club World Cup, the United States men’s national soccer team has been performing incredibly at the ongoing CONCACAF Gold Cup, where they have qualified for the quarter-final.
One player who has caught the eye for the USMNT during the tournament is Crew midfielder Max Arfsten. The 24-year-old made a stunning start to the tournament, providing two assists in the team's opening match against Trinidad and Tobago before producing another impressive performance against Saudi Arabia in their second match.
Arfsten earned a call-up to Mauricio Pochettino’s side thanks in part to his excellent start to the season for the Black and Gold, scoring three goals and providing three assists in his first 11 games of the 2025 campaign.
The US have a perfect record of three wins from three matches in the Gold Cup this year and will face Costa Rica in the quarter-final at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota on June 29.
