all scored in nearly identical fashion. Substitute Emmanuel Ekpo split the Quakes defense with a terrific pass, finding Robbie Rogers streaking down the left, and two days short of celebrating his 21st birthday, Rogers lashed a low shot inside the far post for the 73rd-minute equalizer.
• But Rogers wasn't done yet. Alejandro Moreno played a ball in behind the Earthquakes back line and Rogers again latched onto it and strolled in alone on goal, rounding Joe Cannon before sliding the ball home for his fifth goal on the campaign (81).
• Then two minutes later, the Crew doubled their lead. This time Guillermo Barros Schelotto played provider, sliding a ball for Brad Evans to burst through the heart of the San Jose back four, and Evans hammered the ball high into the goal for his first professional goal.
• The Earthquakes pulled a goal back a minute from the end, also from a corner as Ryan Johnson powered home a header from a Ned Grabavoy service that took a deflection off Columbus defender Frankie Hejduk, but it wasn't enough to overcome to Crew onslaught.
• Here's Yallop's team (4-4-2): Joe Cannon - James Riley, Nick Garcia, Jason Hernandez, Eric Denton - Ronnie O'Brien (Gavin Glinton 82), Ramiro Corrales, Ned Grabavoy, Ivan Guerrero (Ryan Johnson 66) - Peguero Jean Philippe (Shea Salinas 64), Kei Kamara. Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Ryan Cochrane, John Cunliffe, Joe Vide
• Here's Schmid's team (4-4-1-1): William Hesmer - Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall, Danny O'Rourke, Ezra Hendrickson (Andy Iro 93+) - Eddie Gaven (Emmanuel Ekpo 69), Brian Carroll, Stefani Miglioranzi (Brad Evans 31), Robbie Rogers - Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Alejandro Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Andy Gruenebaum, Nicolas Hernandez, Steven Lenhart, Jed Zayner
COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew continued their winless and scoreless streak, seeing both reach three games in a 2-0 loss to Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night. The Crew enter the week in second place in the Eastern Conference with 19 points from 10 games, tied with the Chicago Fire, a point behind the New England Revolution.
LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA had put together back-to-back wins after suffering through a five-game winless run (with four losses), while the Crew had seen a draw and a loss follow a five-game winning streak that propelled them to the top of the MLS table.
• The entire game changed in a three-minute span. First, in the 20th minute, Carey Talley sent in a deflected cross that fell to Jorge Flores in the left side of the area, and the Sueno MLS 2007 winner stormed in to smash home a volley for his third goal in as many games.
• Then barely a minute later, Justin Braun chased down a loose ball on the right flank, cut into the area and laid the ball off for Jesse Marsch, who lashed home a rising shot from the heart of the area for his third goal in as many games.
• Then just another minute later, Danny O'Rourke was sent off by referee Fernando Galvan after a studs-up tackle on Atiba Harris in the center circle that left the Chivas USA forward with a gash on his leg that required some attention.
• For the third consecutive match, Crew head coach Sigi Schmid maintained the same starting XI, the same that played to a scoreless draw in Toronto and lost 1-0 at home to New England.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-1-3-1-1): William Hesmer - Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall, Danny O'Rourke, Ezra Hendrickson - Brian Carroll - Eddie Gaven (Emmanuel Ekpo 67), Brad Evans, Robbie Rogers (Steven Lenhart 80) - Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Adam Moffat 46) - Alejandro Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Andy Gruenebaum, Andy Iro, George Josten, Jed Zayner
• "Taking nothing away from Chivas, I thought the first 20 minutes they played well, we didn't defend well enough," Schmid said. "The first goal, I don't know if it was a push on Harris on Danny O'Rourke. I think Danny O'Rourke clears the header if he doesn't get pushed. Obviously that changes the whole play but that's the way the game goes."
TEAM NEWS
• After an impressive start to the season in which the Crew won six of their first seven matches, they now find themselves winless in their last three and looking to regain their early season form.
• "We want to get back to our winning ways," said defender Ezra Hendrickson. "We're not going to hang our heads. It's been a difficult last few games but we're still very confident. You're going to have success and failures and the key is to bounce back from games like this."
• The Crew haven't scored in league play since May 10, now 277 minutes without a goal.
• "Goals come and go but as long as we stick to what we know we're successful at and we continue to be organized we'll be able to put the ball in the back of the net," said Alejandro Moreno. "We'll look to do that against San Jose next week."
• Still, despite going down a man, the Crew felt they did enough to pull at least one goal back against Chivas. "Playing a man down I thought we got some things," said Schmid. "Guzan had to come up with a big save and overall I wasn't disappointed with how we played."
• Said Moreno: "I think we got more of the ball with 10 men than we did with 11 men. We had confidence in the second half and we put the work in but it didn't pan out for us."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
The San Jose Earthquakes once again endured a long trip over the Rocky Mountains, falling 3-1 to Real Salt Lake last Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The Earthquakes have seven points from nine matches in their return to the league, sitting in seventh place in the Western Conference, four points behind RSL.
LAST MATCH
• Real Salt Lake were returning home after continuing to struggle on the road, losing both games on a swing away from Utah, while the Earthquakes put an end to a four-game winless streak with their first victory in the Bay Area in more than two years, an emotional 2-1 defeat of the Houston Dynamo.
• Joe Cannon kept the scoreline intact for the first half when he saved a Javier Morales penalty kick after just three minutes. But Real finally broke through three minutes after the break. Robbie Findley ran down a long ball on the left touchline, turned and cut back inside a defender before launching a blast from outside the area that slipped inside Cannon at the near post.
• On the hour, RSL doubled the lead. Morales took a quality diagonal ball from Findley, split a pair of defenders as he skipped into the area and slotted a low shot that rolled underneath a diving Cannon.
• In the 73rd minute, Real made it 3-0, this time converting from the spot after referee Jorge Gonzalez adjudged Nick Garcia to having pulled down Andy Williams in the area. Dema Kovalenko took the resulting penalty, sending Cannon the wrong way.
• Six minutes from the end the Quakes pulled back a consolation marker. Garcia intercepted a clearance and sent it back goalward, where Ned Grabavoy's delicate flick found John Cunliffe. He turned and fired a low shot that beat Nick Rimando in the RSL goal.
• Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop made three changes to the team that defeated the Houston Dynamo 2-1 at home nine days previous. Kei Kamara and Ivan Guerrero were on international duty while Ronnie O'Brien was given the night off. Shea Salinas and Joe Vide came into the midfield while Jovan Kirovski made his first start for the Quakes, in attack.
• Here's Yallop's team (4-4-2): Joe Cannon - Jason Hernandez, Ryan Cochrane, Nick Garcia, Eric Denton - Shea Salinas (James Riley 59), Ramiro Corrales, Joe Vide (Kelly Gray 71), Ned Grabavoy - Ryan Johnson, Jovan Kirovski (John Cunliffe 74). Substitutes Not Used: Dan Benton, Matt Hatzke, Jamil Roberts, Adam Smarte
• "We did well in the first half and came into halftime nil-nil, which away from home is what you try to do. Obviously a goal would've been good but we didn't even really look like scoring the first half," Yallop said. "It's just disappointing the goals that went in ... It's always a little difficult to figure out."
TEAM NEWS
• Because of international duty and injuries, Yallop had to make adjustments to his lineup. Kei Kamara and Ivan Guerrero, who each found their way on the score sheet in the victory against the Dynamo, were both called up for national team duty for Sierra Leone and Honduras respectively.
• "It's not so much the guys coming in, but the guys you're losing," said Yallop. "Kei Kamara and Ivan Guerrero scored our two goals in our last game, and we played real well. Ronnie [O'Brien] couldn't play also tonight. You're losing three players from the team that did well. The guys that came in gave everything they had, but it's just the chemistry when everything was going well, and then all of a sudden it slips away from you and you've got to play again. You get a little disjointed."
• John Cunliffe came in off the bench in the second half for his fourth substitute appearance of the season, but just his second over the last seven games. He responded with his first goal in an Earthquakes uniform.
• "He looked lively; got a good goal," said Yallop of Cunliffe. "He nearly got another one. That was a bright spot for us in the last 20 minutes, or so, that he got."
• Losing for the sixth time in nine games, defender Nick Garcia said the key to success for the Earthquakes is getting on top of teams early - and putting away their opportunities.
• "It just can't be one of those things where they score a goal or two and then we get going. We've had a little bit of a roller coaster ride in the beginning of the season, with some wins and some ties and some losses, and for us we've got to get the ship on course," Garcia said. "We're almost a third of the way through the season, so for us we've got to get some results; whether it's home or away we need to start winning because losing is never fun. We've got to get that bitter taste out of our mouth and make the most of it."
