COLUMBUS – Jason Garey scored in the waning seconds before the half and the Columbus Crew broke a long winless streak in the regular season to Chicago with a 2-1 win on Saturday night at Crew Stadium.
The Crew has won two straight since the World Cup break ended to improve to 8-2-3 (27 points) and a three-point lead in the Eastern Conference over New York. The Red Bulls play at Colorado on Sunday.
Chicago (4-4-5, 17 points) saw a 2-0-3 undefeated streak come to an end.
A frenetic last four minutes of the first half saw the Crew score three times. Huh?
An own goal by Frankie Hejduk sandwiched scores on the Crew ledger by Adam Moffat and Garey.
On the opening goal Guillermo Barros Schelotto spotted Garey cutting through the penalty area and led him perfectly. Garey got a touch on the ball but goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra came out to smother the ball.
He couldn’t corral it and Moffat poked the ball away and deposited into the empty net in the 43rd minute for his second goal of the year.
The goal was still being announced when Baggio Husidic sent a service to the far post. Hejduk, who was back after missing five matches with a strained hamstring, had inside position on Patrick Nyarko but headed the ball the other way past stunned 'keeper William Hesmer. A strong contingent of Fire fans cheered the 44th minute goal from the opposite end in the south bleachers.
Just as it appeared the half would end tied, Eddie Gaven and Schelotto executed a give-and-go along the left touchline. Gaven dribbled between two Fire defenders, looked up and sent a flight ball to the goal box.
Garey, who struck the right post on a shot earlier in the half, slipped in front of Krzysztof Krol and behind Wilman Conde for a diving header in the second minute of stoppage time. It was his first goal since July 25, 2009 vs. Toronto FC.
Columbus was 0-4-4 at home against the Fire in regular season play since July 3, 2004. The Crew's last regular season win against the Fire came back on October 7, 2006 in Chicago.
The Crew host Charleston (USL-2) in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal match on Tuesday and return to MLS play Saturday at Houston. Chicago hosts Real Salt Lake on Thursday in the MLS Game of the Week on ESPN2.
Scoring Summary:
CLB – Adam Moffat 43’
CHI – Own goal (Frankie Hejduk) 44’
CLB – Jason Garey (Eddie Gaven) 47+’
Misconduct Summary:
CHI – Dasan Robinson (caution: Reckless tackle)
45’
Lineups:
CHICAGO – Andrew Dykstra; Dasan Robinson (Kwame Watson-Siriboe, 84’), C.J. Brown, Wilman Conde, Krzysztof Krol; Marco Pappa, Logan Pause, Mike Banner, Baggio Husidic; Patrick Nyarko, Brian McBride (Stefan Dimitrov, 87’).
COLUMBUS – William Hesmer; Frankie Hejduk (Danny O’Rourke, 70’), Chad Marshall, Andy Iro, Gino Padula; Brian Carroll, Adam Moffat, Robbie Rogers; Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Steven Lenhart, 90’), Jason Garey (Emilio Renteria, 67’).
Referee: Alex Prus
Referee's Assistants: Thomas Supple,
Adam Garner
4th Official: Landis Wiley
Weather: Sunny and 82
Attendance: 14,017
Time of Game: 1:50
