MLS Cup: Columbus Crew outlasts defending champions LAFC, 2-1, as hosts win third league title in front of sea of yellow after first-half strikes from Cucho Hernandez and Yaw Yeboah

Moments before the Columbus Crew's fourth MLS Cup appearance on Saturday, a sea of yellow-clad fans serenaded their team with a hearty rendition of Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling in Love.'

The home supporters will be even more enamored now.

Facing the Western Conference champs LAFC, Columbus scored twice in four minutes in the first half to build an advantage it ultimately wouldn't relinquish, as the hosts went on to lift MLS' premier prize with a 2-1 win.

'One of the two has to lose unfortunately... it was a beautiful journey,' LAFC's Giorgio Chiellini said. 

There were suspicions heading into the match that Columbus would dominate the ball, so the 68-32 possession advantage in favor of the newly-minted league winners in the first 45 minutes was not a massive shock.

But the lack of energy from the 2022 champions in the game's early proceedings was in fact surprising.

Columbus outshot their visitors 8-4 in the first half but the gap in ambition during the early goings felt far wider than that.

An early penalty shout from Aidan Morris in the ninth minute was waved away by the referee, but it was a sign of things to come. One team was getting in and around the box far more than the other.

Steven Moreira headed wide after finding himself free in the box, while Cucho Hernandez came close with a shot from range in the 23rd minute, and Diego Rossi struck the side netting in the 27th minute.

Meanwhile, a sloppy Columbus giveaway in the 26th minute gave LAFC their first opening, as Carlos Vela saw his shot blocked, but it was indicative of their toothlessness that their first real chance came from a largely unforced error.

The hosts, meanwhile, had more of a bite to their game and got a well-deserved opener in the 33rd minute, when Hernandez converted a penalty following a Diego Palacios handball.

And that advantage was doubled just four minutes later when Malte Amundsen slipped Yaw Yeboah in for a calmly taken second off the left.

The sight of a 39-year-old Giorgio Chiellini chasing the play from behind - even if Yeboah wasn't his man - was a sobering one, especially given his flirtations with retirement before the match.

If this is it for the nine-time Serie A winner, who said after the match that he'll take a couple of days to make his decision, there was no storybook comeback as the hosts held their nerve and LA failed to create much more.

It was a notably quiet game as well for Vela, who is now out of contract with LAFC, and may have just played his last game for the club. 

There were flashes of the team that has forged a reputation as one of MLS' best.

In first half stoppage time, Cristian Olivera's cross deflected dangerously off of Rudy Camacho's heel inside the six-yard box, but the ball bounced harmlessly out of bounds for a corner.

LAFC finally came to life in the 74th minute when Denis Bouanga bundled in a rebound to halve the the hosts' lead.

The traveling army of LAFC fans were buoyed, and Columbus' - which had enjoyed a fairly comfortable final to that point - were shellshocked.

But the Crew fans soon found their voice again, almost realizing that their team was still in control and minutes away from lifting its third MLS Cup.

Twenty or so minutes later, after some typically nervy last moments, Columbus had officially clinched that achievement.