'This is a good win' - Wilfried Nancy reacts to Columbus Crew's 1-0 triumph over Atlanta United

Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy was "really happy" with his team's ability to grind out a 1-0 victory over Atlanta United on Matchday 1.

The reigning champions picked up right where they left off to begin their 2024 campaign with a win over the revamped Five Stripes in a rematch of the first round of the 2023 MLS Cup playoffs.

Cucho Hernandez opened the scoring within the first half hour and had the chance to double his side's lead from 12 yards out in the second half, but former USMNT figure Brad Guzan denied the Colombia international to keep Atlanta in the game.

It was a tale of two halves at Lower.com Field. The Crew were dominant and clearly the better side in the first half but the visitors asked plenty of questions after the restart when they finally grew into the game. Despite the Crew taking their foot off the gas in the second 45, Nancy was still delighted to pick up Columbus' first three points of the campaign.

"Really happy. Really happy because Atlanta started preseason two weeks before us," Nancy said postgame. "We knew that we would struggle around 65-70 minutes. It's been a good exercise for us because as you know, we had the ring ceremony, but I told them to enjoy this moment because they deserve it, but at the same time to do the switch and to start right away."

Nancy, who became the first black head coach to win an MLS Cup and did so in his first season in charge of the Crew, was impressed with how his team didn't let the pregame festivities get in way of the task at hand: collecting three points in front of their supporters.

He added: "The way they did it, I'm really happy with that because they were able to enjoy this moment because they deserve it, but at the same time, they did a really good first half. We could have scored more goals.

"After that, the second half was a bit different. We had less of the ball, but I really like to see my players with good resilience and the persistence to try to keep the clean sheet. The way we defended the box also was good. Yes, we could have scored more goals, but for first game at home with a lot of pressure, this is a good win."

Nancy is known as a coach who likes his side to dominate possession and control games. But the 46-year-old was content with his team having just 40% possession in the second half as they still created an xG of 0.86 but were able to pick and choose when to sit in and when to jump forward.

"We didn't keep the ball too often so that's why they had the momentum, but I like also the fact that they had the ball a little bit more but we were calm and composed and aggressive defensively. I like it like this sometimes, not all the time but sometimes," he said.

Columbus now prepare to take on Minnesota United on March 2 at Allianz Field, looking to win their second straight game to start the 2024 season off on the right foot.

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