Just when it looked like the Columbus Crew might be turning over a new leaf, what's become a common refrain this season again came back to haunt them.
The Crew had a chance to come away with their second consecutive victory but squandered their late-game advantage when Los Angeles Galaxy defender Eddie Lewis scored in the first minute of stoppage time, en route to a 1-1 tie on Sunday afternoon at The Home Depot Center.
After getting off to the worst start of any defending MLS champion, the Crew (1-3-5) had hopes of continuing the momentum of last week's inaugural victory but blew their fifth second-half lead of the season.
It appeared the Crew would capture their second victory in a row off the foot of forward Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who scored his fifth goal of the season in the 70th minute after finishing with seven all of last season.
It was a heads-up play by Schelotto, who stole the ball from Galaxy defender Tony Sanneh as he was accepting a goal kick from Donovan Ricketts just outside the penalty area. Schelotto sprinted from seemingly nowhere to steal the ball and boot it past Ricketts to give Columbus a 1-0 lead.
With victory within reach, things unraveled for the Crew in the final minutes. First, defender Danny O'Rourke was slapped with a second yellow card within a three-minute span, receiving the second in the 89th minute after a hard tackle on Landon Donovan.
And then the heartbreaker happened only seconds into stoppage time. When the Crew's Eric Brunner tried to clear the ball with a header, he sent it straight to Lewis, who wasted no time in firing a missile shot from 30 yards away that clinched the tie and extended the Galaxy's unbeaten streak to seven games.
The goal came as Lewis celebrated his 35th birthday.
It seemed early on that the Crew's intentions were to put the pressure on the Galaxy. In the fourth minute, Columbus midfielder Eddie Gaven crossed the ball into the area from the left side for Emmanuel Ekpo, who whiffed when he tried to knock it in from feet away while Lewis covered him.
After that, the pace of the first half slowed down considerably, though the Crew had their fair share of scoring opportunities during the first 45 minutes and certainly were more active than the Galaxy, as evidenced by the 5-1 advantage in corner kicks.
But the Crew managed to turn only a few of their chances into close calls. In the 13th minute, midfielder Robbie Rogers rifled a shot from 20 yards away that was blocked by Ricketts. It wouldn't be Ricketts' only save of the half.
A cross by Crew defender Frankie Hejduk was headed out of bounds by the Galaxy, setting up a corner kick in the 21st minute. Scheletto served it into the box from the left corner, and it directly connected with Crew defender Chad Marshall, whose header from about 12 yards away almost one-hopped past Ricketts, but the Jamaican international was able to stop it.
Simon Jude Samano is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
