• Lucas Zelarayán is out with an injury
  • A thigh injury kept him out of the Crew's latest game
  • The Columbus Crew actually won without Zelarayán

The Columbus Crew were forced to go without their star Lucas Zelarayán this weekend. The struggling team lost its talented midfielder to a thigh injury.

According to RotoWire, Zelarayán was listed as "questionable" ahead of his team's matchup with Atlanta United. But the thigh injury ultimately kept him out of the game.

Without Lucas Zelarayán: Columbus Crew tops Atlanta United

The Columbus Crew had been struggling even with former MVP-winner Lucas Zelarayán on the field. They'd gone 1-3-5 in their previous nine games.

But the Crew stepped it up in Zelarayán's absence. On Saturday, the team defeated Atlanta United 2–1 on goals by Jonathan Mensah and Erik Hurtado. They're now 4-5-4 on the year.

Also interesting:

It's not Lucas Zelarayán's first injury this year, either. Back in March 2022, he missed games due to a knee injury. Now a new leg problem: a thigh issue kept him out over the weekend.

The Crew haven't released an injury update for Lucas Zelarayán since Saturday's game. But since Zelarayán was only questionable to miss that one, fans hope he'll be back soon.

Zelarayán, who is married to wife Paula Junco, has four goals this MLS season but hasn't scored since before his injury in March.