The Boca Junior side of Buenos Aries has the bragging rights over their hated cross-town rivals River Plate, at least in MLS and its nation's capitol.
The game touted as the "Yankee Superclassico" was a relatively one-sided affair as the Columbus Crew went into Washington Thursday night and defeated D.C. United 2-1.
With four Argentines on the field, and six total among the two sides, it was the two super maestros that got marquee billing. The Crew's Guillermo Barros Schelotto got the better of fellow Argentine legend Marcelo Gallardo, having a hand in both goals and controlling the flow of the match.
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.
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 meandered his way to the top of the penalty area 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 Will 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 a week ago.
But it was Schelotto who controlled the midfield in the first half, orchestrating a far more fluid attack than his Argentine counterpart. Though United created ample chances, 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. Schelotto's masterful skill and footwork finally freed himself from the tenacious marking of Devon McTavish around 35-yards from goal on the left flank.
The Crew opened the scoring in the 32nd minute with a superb sequence inside United's penalty area that resulted in Alejandro 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.
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 to equalize the score at 1-1.
Moments earlier, Namoff ripped a strong shot from 28-yards that went inches wide of the left post.
The draw lasted mere seconds as Moffat quickly redeemed himself, chipping 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.
But overall the Crew played a cautious second half rarely sending numbers forward, content with holding on to the slim margin despite United's ability to attack from all angles on the field.
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.
Moreno continued his high energy play as well, nearly beating Peralta to a bouncing ball in the penalty in the 74th minute. But the rangy defender got just enough of it to knock it away.
United did have one last chance in stoppage time with their first shot since the 76th minute but Santino Quaranta's right-footed blast bounced just wide of the left post.
Chris Snear is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
