Chad Marshall scored near the end of the first half and the Columbus Crew defeated the New York Red Bulls 1-0 on Saturday at Crew Stadium in a rematch of last year's MLS Cup won by Columbus.
The match was scoreless until the 45th minute when Columbus converted the second of back-to back corner kicks. Marshall, a defender, scored his second of the goal of the season and Guillermo Barros Schelotto had his third assist.
On the first try, Schelotto sent the ball to the head of Steven Lenhart 8 yards from goal. His flick was on target but defender Sinisa Ubiparipovic, who had entered for minutes earlier when Carlos Mendes injured his hip, headed the attempt over the crossbar.
Schelotto came back with another service that Marshall got his head on by leaping over New York forward Khano Smith 10 yards out from goal. Goalkeeper Danny Cepero was screened by Eddie Gaven and could not stop the shot. The Red Bulls have allowed a league-high nine goals in the last 15 minutes of the first half.
The Schelotto-Marshall combination also victimized the Red Bulls for the game-winning goal in MLS Cup 2008 as well.
Jorge Rojas almost got the goal back in the 57th minute. About halfway through his strike from 28 yards a Crew player deflected it and the ball smacked the crossbar before going out of bounds.
New York kept pressing but that resulted space down the left flank for Robbie Rogers. He made a cutback at the endline and barely missed a shot on target in the 66th minute before serving a sitting header to Gaven a minute later only to see the former MetroStars product miss badly to the right.
Columbus has won four in a row at home after opening the season with three ties in Crew Stadium. Columbus, 5-1-5 in the past 11 league games overall, has not lost in 18 home games (13-0-5), including two playoff wins, since June 8, 2008.
New York (2-12-4) is on a 0-7-2 stretch and extended their league record 22-game regular-season road winless streak (0-16-6). The Red Bulls last victory was May 10, 2008, at Los Angeles. They are 0-9-1 and been outscored 17-1 in away matches this season, including a 2-0 defeat at Toronto FC on Wednesday. The Red Bulls are last in the East.
Two stalwarts from the Crew's 2008 championship season returned to the starting lineup after lengthy absences due to injuries. Goalkeeper William Hesmer made his first appearance in 10 games and right back Frankie Hejduk played for the first time in six games with just his fourth outing of the season.
There were several other changes for the home team. Lenhart replaced forward Alejandro Moreno, who played a midweek friendly for Venezuela against Mexico in Atlanta. Danny O'Rourke moved from the backline to central midfield and Gaven moved from that spot to the right flank, sending Emmanuel Ekpo to the bench.
The Red Bulls were without forward Juan Pablo Angel (hamstring) and suspended defender Mike Petke. Angel has five of the team's 14 goals. Midfielder Seth Stammler, who is from suburban Columbus, assumed the captain's armband for Angel. Also, defender Kevin Goldwaithe was eligible after serving a one-game suspension but did not dress because of a bad hamstring. Dane Richards and Macoumba Kandji were nursing injuries, too. They were on the bench but were not among the three substitutes used.
The Crew provided a harsh pregame reminder to the Red Bulls which of the two was victorious when they met in the MLS Cup Final last Nov. 23 when the club's players and staff received championship rings to commemorate the 3-1 win. Continuing the theme of a "Night of Champions", Columbus native James "Buster" Douglas, an upset winner over Mike Tyson in February 1990 to win the undisputed world heavyweight boxing title, participated in the ceremonial coin toss.
The teams traded chances just past the 15-minute mark. First, Schelotto took advantage of a steal by Rogers for a shot from the left side of the box but fired off target. Stammler followed with a dribble into the Crew penalty area and had a step on the nearest defender only to shoot into the nearside netting.
It took nearly 25 more minutes for another close call and this time the Crew had it when Gaven's cross from the left side was headed by Lenhart directly to Cepero. The Crew had eight of 10 shots in the first half and all three shots on goal.
The Crew play a U.S. Open Cup match on the road Tuesday against Rochester of the USL First Division before returning to MLS play July 4 by playing host to D.C. United. The Red Bulls also play in Independence Day at FC Dallas to complete a three-game trip.
Craig Merz is a contributor to MLSnet.com
