away at his high school prom -- John Wolyniec was given the start at forward for the Red Bulls, and quickly made his presence felt. A quick one-two on the right set Dane Richards free, and he put in a low cross to the far post where Wolyniec came in to sweep it home (17).
• After the break, the Red Bulls put the game away. A throw-in from the left was flicked on, and Crew defender Marcos Gonzalez kicked it high into the air, from in front of his goalkeeper. Clint Mathis pulled away and headed the ball into the unguarded goal to double the lead in the 51st minute.
• Ten minutes later, Juan Pablo Angel scored his first MLS league goal. Intercepting a Gonzalez pass across his own penalty area, Angel strolled into the area and sent a shot past Andy Gruenebaum and inside the right post.
• Then in stoppage time, Red Bulls rookie Sal Caccavale completed the rout. Sinisa Ubiparipovic rounded a defender on the right and pulled a pass back for Caccavale who found the back of the net from the corner of the goal area, just four minutes after coming on in his MLS debut.
• The closest the Crew came was late in the second half, after winning a free kick just on the edge of the area. But Guillermo Barros Schelotto saw his effort over the wall dip just a little too late, skimming the top of the crossbar.
• Here's Arena's team (4-1-3-2): Jon Conway - Dema Kovalenko, Carlos Mendes, Jeff Parke, Todd Dunivant - Seth Stammler - Dane Richards (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 76), Clint Mathis, Dave van den Bergh (Elie Ikangu 82) - Juan Pablo Angel, John Wolyniec (Sal Caccavale 88). Substitutes Not Used: Danny Cepero, Taylor Graham, Jerrod Laventure, Tim Regan
• Here's Schmid's team (4-3-3): Andy Gruenebaum - Frankie Hejduk, Marcos Gonzalez, Ezra Hendrickson, Rusty Pierce - Ned Grabavoy, Danny O'Rourke, Stefani Miglioranzi (Duncan Oughton 59) - Brad Evans (Eddie Gaven 58), Alejandro Moreno, Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Kei Kamara 67). Substitutes Not Used: Bill Gaudette, Robbie Rogers, Danny Szetela, Tim Ward
COLUMBUS CREW
A 10-man Columbus Crew came away from the Los Angeles Galaxy with a 3-2 victory on Saturday -- their second win in the week, after knocking off K.C. at midweek. With the victory the Crew now have 15 points from 13 matches and leapfrogged into fifth place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind D.C. United and a point ahead of the Chicago Fire, while two ahead of Toronto FC.
LAST MATCH
• Both teams were coming off heartening victories. The Galaxy put an end to their five-game winless streak with a defeat of Real Salt Lake the weekend before, while the Crew were back on the road after snapping a seven-game winless skein with a victory against Kansas City at midweek.
• An incident-filled match burst to life in the 15th minute when Chad Marshall opened the scoring, heading home a Guillermo Barros Schelotto free kick from the right corner. The Galaxy had a glorious opportunity to pull level 11 minutes later when Abel Xavier was bundled over in the area going for a corner, but Kyle Martino saw his penalty saved by Crew 'keeper Will Hesmer.
• It would have huge ramifications in the 29th minute, when Columbus right back Ezra Hendrickson was sent off with a straight red card by referee Michael Kennedy for a tackle from behind on Chris Klein in midfield. Then the Crew had a chance to double the lead themselves 10 minutes later when L.A. defender Kyle Veris tripped up Eddie Gaven in the box, but for the second time in the game, a player saw a penalty saved by his former club when Joe Cannon sprung off his line to parry Ned Grabavoy's spot kick.
• Still, it was the 10-man Crew who increased the margin in the 58th minute. Duncan Oughton won a long ball, flicking a header on into the area, where Gaven corraled it before playing a square pass under a defender for Grabavoy to bang into a wide-open goal.
• The Galaxy pulled level eight minutes later. Cobi Jones hooked in a cross from the right and Gavin Glinton dove headlong forward to power a wildly acrobatic header into the upper corner for his first goal with Los Angeles. Yet the Crew once again answered in the 84th minute when Alejandro Moreno rose up completely unmarked amidst a static Galaxy defense and drove a header past Cannon to score against his one-time club.
• In stoppage time, Edson Buddle scored against his former team when a cross was weakly punched out by Hesmer and Buddle swung his leg to send a side-volley bounding home. Hesmer saved the day with a fine save from Peter Vagenas at full stretch with almost the final kick of the game to ensure the Crew victory.
• Crew head coach Sigi Schmid maintained the same starting XI that he ran out against Kansas City at midweek. Here's Schmid team (4-2-3-1): Will Hesmer - Ezra Hendrickson, Marcos Gonzalez, Chad Marshall, Stefani Miglioranzi - Danny O'Rourke, Duncan Oughton - Eddie Gaven, Ned Grabavoy (Jason Garey 78), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Rusty Pierce 56) - Alejandro Moreno (Kei Kamara 93+). Substitutes Not Used: Andy Gruenebaum, Ben Hunter, Jed Zayner
• "Although we have been playing well, we weren't getting results," forward Alejandro Moreno said. "Today we showed some character, we showed a lot of positives. Even with 10 men, we were carrying moments of the game."
TEAM NEWS
• The victory carried special significance for Schmid, coming against the club where he made his mark in MLS. "I grew up in Los Angeles so coming back here and winning is rewarding," said Schmid, who led the Galaxy to the 2002 MLS Cup title. "But what's most rewarding is for our team because we've had just a series of bad luck early in the season but now it's starting to turn around."
• With his service on the free kick that led to Chad Marshall's opener, Guillermo Barros Schelotto moved into a tie at the top of the MLS assist leaders, along with New England Revolution winger Steve Ralston.
• "We went through the longest stretch, something like 18 months, where we hadn't scored a goal on set pieces and now we've got like four in the last four or five games," Schmid said. "That's something that's really been helped by Guillermo and what he does on set pieces for us, his service and delivery. That's the key on set pieces, you've got to have delivery. Since he's come on board, the runs are there and the ball is there."
• But as well, Schmid said Schelotto's is really opening up the Crew's options in the run of play. "Our understanding of Guillermo is much, much better," Schmid said. "He got fouled three or four times in the first 13 minutes and he did that part for us well."
• The Crew will now face the next few matches without Eddie Gaven, who was benched by Schmid after the 1-1 draw with Chivas USA on May 12. In the following five games, Gaven appeared as a substitute four times and did not play at all in another match. But he came off the bench against New England and helped the Crew score a late equalizer, scored his first goal of the season in a 2-1 win against Kansas City four days later and picked up his first two assists of the year against the Galaxy. Now he will be heading off to Copa America with the U.S. national team.
• "Coach has always had faith in me, and I have had faith in the way I play. I think every season has highs and lows. There was a four-week stretch where it was a low for me, but things are starting to come back up for me," Gaven said. "I think the thing to keep in mind is the team effort we had out there tonight. We played awesome as a team. Every guy out there was working really hard."
• Said Schmid: "He started off the season very unlucky. He had some chances to score goals but things didn't fall for him. I pulled him out of the lineup. It's the first time that's happened to him but he responded very well to that. He came in last week and he played excellent and he played excellent on Wednesday and he played excellent (on Saturday)."
• The Crew survived the sending off of Hendrickson, who will be suspended for the Red Bulls match along with midfielder Danny O'Rourke, who also received his fifth booking of the season at Los Angeles.
• "It is good for us. We needed a win, and we were going to come out and get it. Right now we are a very confident team," Hendrickson said. "We were also a confident team when we started the season, but we had some ties that we thought could have gone our way. We were patient, and this team is never going to give up; we are going to continue fighting. Winning streaks are a habit, so I hope we can continue this one for some time."
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls return to action after a weekend off, their last match a wild 3-3 draw at home with the Kansas City Wizards on June 16. The Red Bulls though have since fallen from the top spot in the Eastern Conference, now with 21 points from 12 matches, one behind the New England Revolution and one ahead of the Wizards.
LAST MATCH
• The teams were meeting for the second time in two weeks after the Wizards took over first place in the East with a 3-2 victory in K.C., though the Red Bulls had played twice in between to jump back into the conference lead.
• After a quarter-hour, the Red Bulls were already two goals to the good. First, a deflected corner kick was pumped back in, and Juan Pablo Angel snapped home a powerful header at the back post (8). Then some neat work on the right between Dane Richards and Seth Stammler saw the rookie send in a rolling pass in front of goal where Clint Mathis came sliding in to prod it home.
• But just before the break, the Wizards pulled a goal back when Carlos Marinelli stepped over the ball on the dribble and Kerry Zavagnin ripped a curling, dipping drive from well outside the area for his second goal this year.
• Yura Movsisyan came on for Scott Sealy early in the second half, and scored twice within nine minutes to nose the Wizards in front. First, Ryan Raybould drove in a low cross from the right corner and Movsisyan deflected inside the far side netting from the near post (70). Then the second-year Armenian-born striker ran onto a long ball played by Sasha Victorine from well inside the Wizards half, and sent an audacious chip over New York goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus from outside the box.
• But a minute from time the Red Bulls got the equalizer. On a long cross from the left, Jose Burciaga Jr. and John Wolyniec tangled while chasing the ball, and referee Abbey Okulaja pointed to the spot. Angel converted with ease for his ninth goal in seven MLS games, now one game away from tying the league record for consecutive games with a goal, having hit in six in a row.
• Red Bulls manager Bruce Arena made two changes to the team that lost 4-2 to D.C. United at RFK Stadium the previous weekend. Dema Kovalenko suffered a pre-match injury in warm-ups, so Jeff Parke came into central defense and Tim Regan at left back as Seth Stammler moved forward into center midfield. The other casualty was Markus Schopp, who returned to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-1-1): Ronald Waterreus - Taylor Graham (John Wolyniec 82), Jeff Parke, Carlos Mendes, Tim Regan - Dane Richards (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 71), Claudio Reyna, Seth Stammler, Dave van den Bergh - Clint Mathis (Jozy Altidore 70) - Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Sal Caccavale, Jon Conway, Markus Schopp, Joe Vide
• "That's a game where we had a chance to make it 3-0, and then we're fighting for our lives in the 90th minute to get a point. Not a well-played game on our part, that's for sure," Arena said.
TEAM NEWS
• Once again, it was a real makeshift defense for the Red Bulls. Dema Kovalenko had been slated to move in at right back, after Markus Schopp had played there in back-to-back matches, but Kovalenko was a last-minute scratch because of a groin strain.
• "In our short season so far, we went from a strong, solid team in the first four games to leaking way too many goals," Red Bulls captain Claudio Reyna said. "I think one of the things is not being able to consistently play the same back four and you could see it's not easy to step on the field and understand each other."
• After going 5-1-2 to open the season and allowing just four goals in those first eight games (with shutouts in six), the Red Bulls have allowed 11 goals in their last four.
• "It's not just the defenders, it's the whole team," Arena said. "We lose the ball too easy, the midfield marking isn't good enough, our organization in the back is poor. It's a combination of things."
• In addition, Arena said he thought he rushed Ronald Waterreus back from the sprained left ankle that kept him sidelined for five games. Waterreus was credited with eight saves against the Wizards.
• "[He played] adequately, at best," Arena said. "I think he made a mistake on the third goal. He made a big save at one point in the second half, but that's a mistake from a veteran goalkeeper to come off his line like that. The other part that's a problem here is that we're bringing back injured players too early and they're not fit enough to play in these games. We have no choice, we don't have any players left."
• The bright spot was the play of Angel, who now has nine goals in his first seven MLS games, a league record. His six-game goalscoring streak is one shy of the league record, set by Raul Diaz Arce (D.C. United) in 1997 and Wolde Harris (New England Revolution) in 2000.
• "I think it's been a very hectic start for me. I'm happy to help the team with my bit. We know we have to do better from here to get into the playoffs and win something. But, we have real quality in this locker room and we're still high in the table," Angel said.
• Heading into the match, the Red Bulls made yet another trade, sending Todd Dunivant to Toronto FC for Kevin Goldthwaite in an exchange of left backs. Goldthwaite had been acquired by TFC from Houston Dynamo in April, making nine appearances (all starts) with a goal and an assist for the expansion club. Dunivant was acquired midway through last season from the Los Angeles Galaxy in exchange for a partial allocation.
