Live: Columbus Crew return to Lower.com Field to face Sporting Kansas City

After over 80 matches in a Crew uniform, two-time MLS Cup champion Aidan Morris is expected to play his final match for Columbus on Saturday.

Over a week ago, it was reported that Morris will be signing with England’s second-tier EFL Championship Middlesbrough FC. With the anticipation that the deal will become official early next week, the Crew will be honoring Morris following Columbus’ upcoming match at Lower.com Field against Sporting Kansas City.

More: Crew midfielder Aidan Morris leaving Columbus for EFL Championship’s Middlesbrough FC

The matchup against Kansas City will be the Crew’s first match at home since May 11, when they fell to FC Cincinnati 2-1. During the six weeks of road matches Columbus had on the schedule, the Crew went 4-1 in MLS play, with their only loss coming against Inter Miami 2-1 on Wednesday.

The temperature at Lower.com Field on Saturday night is expected to be even hotter than it was in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. when the Crew took on Miami due to the heat wave across the United States. According to the Weather Channel, the temperature Columbus around kickoff will be 91 degrees, but will feel like 95 degrees.

With the different backgrounds of the players on the Crew’s roster, some prefer playing in this type of heat.

“I played in Africa, so for me, that’s good,” said Crew defender Steven Moreira. “Of course, when it’s hot, we have to control the game more, and the ball.”

Follow along for live updates from the Crew’s match against Sporting Kansas City:

Recently retired Ohio State University athletic director Gene Smith was the Crew’s “match ignitor” on Saturday night before Columbus’ match against Sporting Kansas City. The “match ignitor” is involved in a pregame tradition for the Crew used the get the crowd excited for the upcoming match.

The temperature 15 minutes before kickoff at Lower.com Field is 94 degrees but feels like 97.

Columbus’ match against Sporting Kansas City will serve as a farewell for midfielder Aidan Morris, with the club expected to hold a postgame ceremony for the 22-year-old.

Fans via social media have also organized their own way to honor Morris and are planning to sing a chant the fan base has created for Morris in the eighth minute of the match, which coincides with his No. 8 jersey number.

Read more about the Crew’s plans to honor Morris here.

Here is the starting 11 for Kansas City vs Columbus:

• GK: John Pulskamp
• DF: Robert Castellanos
• DF: Dany Rosero
• DF: Robert Voloder
• MF: Zorhan Bassong
• MF: Kayden Pierre
• MF: Nemanja Radoja
• MF: Memo Rodriguez
• FW: Stephen Afrifa
• FW: Willy Agada
• FW: Erik Tommy

Here is the starting 11 for Columbus vs Kansas City:

• GK: Patrick Schulte
• DF: Rudy Camacho
• DF: Yevhen Cheberko
• DF: Steven Moreira
• MF: Max Arfsten
• MF: Mo Farsi
• MF: Aidan Morris
• MF: Darlington Nagbe
• FW: Cucho Hernandez
• FW: Christian Ramirez
• FW: Diego Rossi

Here is the Kansas City’s official availability report:

• Danny Flores (head): Out
• Felipe Hernandez (undisclosed): Out
• Tim Leibold (quad): Questionable
• Logan Ndenbe (knee): Out
• Alan Pulido (knee): Questionable
• Daniel Salloi (ankle)
• Remi Walter (knee)

Here is the Crew’s official availability report:

• Evan Bush (arm): Out
• Jacen Russell-Rowe (international duty): Out

Here are the officials for the Crew vs Kansas on Saturday night:

• Referee: Marcos DeOliveira
• Assistant Referee 1: Ian McKay
• Assistant Referee 2: Chantal Boudreau
• Fourth Official: Nabil Bensalah
• VAR: Kevin Scott
• Assistant VAR: Joshua Patlak

The Crew are 23-26-9 overall against Sporting Kansas City. This is Columbus’ first match against Kansas City since 2019.

The Crew vs. Sporting Kansas City English-speaking radio broadcast will be on Alt 105.7 FM and available via the iHeartRadio app. Columbus’ regular radio broadcaster Chris Doran will be on the call.

The Spanish radio broadcast can be found on La Grande 102.5 FM and the La Grande radio app with Juan Valladares doing play-by-play.

The Crew-Kansas City match will be available on Apple TV via an MLS Season Pass subscription. Here are the broadcast teams for tonight:

• English broadcast: Neil Sika (play-by-play), Lloyd Sam (analyst)
• Spanish broadcast: Raul Guzman (play-by-play), Carlos Ruiz (analyst)

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 22 at Lower.com Field.

bmackay@dispatch.com

@brimackay15

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