Padula's well-taken free kick bounced in when New England goalkeeper Matt Reis and defender Emmanuel Osei couldn't decide who should deal with it -- but it was everything the Crew needed and more on the evening.
"That's a good run by the guys, a good ball by Gino and it was misjudged a little bit by the goalie," Warzycha said. "It was a lucky goal, but it gave us three points."
Those three points weren't easy to claim once Emmanuel Ekpo earned his walking papers for a forearm to the bridge of Kevin Alston's nose in the 65th minute. For the final 25 minutes, the Crew had to hold the Revolution at bay with the carrot of clinching the East as their motivation.
The retooled Columbus back line -- deprived of regulars Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall and Danny O'Rourke -- managed the task with nary a problem by keeping its shape and forcing a Revolution side deprived of key playmaker Steve Ralston to try to break them down in the wide areas.
Without the proper service, New England resorted to a more direct style that the Crew defense handled easily by crowding the penalty area.
"It was kind of fortunate that they were a little desperate and they were dumping it in before the red card," Brunner said. "It was basically just the same thing. Me and Andy [Iro] are big guys, so we can go up for the balls. That's one of the strong parts of our game."
Both Warzycha and Brunner said the match turned into a tense battle with New England scrapping for a playoff spot and Columbus fighting for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Brunner said the determined effort paid off in spades when the final whistle blew and guaranteed the Crew the best record in the East with two matches remaining.
"It's fun when you win games like this," Brunner said.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com
