What We Learned: Crew at Philadelphia Union

The Columbus Crew opened the Wilfried Nancy era on Saturday night with a 4-1 loss at the Philadelphia Union. That will be what the score sheet says, but the game was not nearly as dominant for the winning side.

Despite being on the road against what was one of the best teams in Major League Soccer last season, and a side that is expected to be once again, the Crew came out aggressive and was the better team for large parts of the first half, taking the 1-0 lead. The Union demonstrated the team’s mettle, however, coming back to equalize prior to halftime before playing much better in the second half, eventually running away with the game on the scoreboard.

It was an interesting match for…