COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Crew went into RFK Stadium Thursday night and left with an impressive 2-1 victory over Eastern Conference rival D.C. United. With the win, the Crew improves to 3-1-0 on the season and moves into first place in the East.
Alejandro Moreno continued his scoring spree in RFK Stadium as he notched his third goal of the year and fifth career against goal vs. United. He also played with consistent tenacity the entire night. He is now tied for the league lead in goals.
United garnered the first serious opportunity of the night in the fourth minute after Brian Carroll took down his former D.C. teammate Fred 30-yards from goal on the left flank. Luciano Emilio nearly poked in the rebound of Marcelo Gallardo's dangerous free kick but it was blocked away at the last second.
Carroll reciprocated moments later by sending Robbie Rogers in on goal with a fine ball down the right flank. Rogers streaked into the box, but his uncontested left-footed bender went wide left.
United countered in the 14th minute with Emilio sending the ball wide to Fred who returned the act of kindness by swinging it back to his fellow Brazilian, who promptly knocked a header from close range directly at Crew goalkeeper William Hesmer, who used quick reflexes to keep the ball under control.
Head coach Sigi Schmid ran out the same starting unit that he did in the Crew's wild 4-3 at home against Chivas USA a week ago. And it was Guillermo Barros Schelotto who controlled the midfield in the first half. Though United created ample chances, Marcelo Gallardo was given very little space to play with very few options provided by his front runners. Most United's attack was generated from the flanks with Fred on the left side and Bryan Namoff on the right.
In the 30th minute, Schelotto was denied from seven yards out by United netminder Zach Wells. The Crew did open the scoring in the 32nd minute with a superb sequence inside United's penalty area that resulted in Moreno's third goal of the season. Schelotto corralled the ball in traffic in the penalty area, slipped it through the right side to a running Frankie Hejduk, who promptly played a low ball to Moreno, who beat Bryan Namoff to the near post to make the score 1-0. It was Schelotto's league-leading third assist of the season.
Namoff evened the score in the 42nd minute with a blast that deflected off Adam Moffat from 17 yards out and just past left ear of a surprised Hesmer.
The draw lasted mere seconds as Moffat chipped the ball over a sliding Wells from the right touch line to a charging Moreno, who fought through two United defenders to apparently get his head on it at the goal line. But after further review, it was ruled that defender Gonzalo Peralta, another Argentine, provided the impetus for the ball to barely get it over the goal line for an own goal.
Hejduk continued his usual energetic play into the second half cutting inside from the right flank and pounding a rare left-footed shot that Wells did well to dive and stop in the 54th minute.
Gallardo did make a contribution in the 67th minute, swinging a perfectly weighted ball from the left to the far post that Fred knocked into the side netting.
The Crew returns to action on Saturday, April 26, when it plays host to the defending MLS Cup-champion Houston Dynamo at Crew Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
