the first a come-from-behind, 2-1 win against FC Dallas on Crew Stadium on Aug. 16 -- while FC Dallas had just that lone loss in their seven matches.
• Just as in Columbus, FC Dallas took a first-half lead, and once again it came through Jeff Cunningham. Sent through by midfielder Bruno Guarda, making his first MLS start, Cunningham skipped around Crew defender Chad Marshall in the 35th minute and lashed home a drive inside the right post for his fifth goal on the year.
• But it didn't take long for the Crew to respond. Just two minutes later, Guillermo Barros Schelotto put in a corner kick from the right. Marshall headed it back across goal and Alejandro Moreno nosed to nod a header home for his eighth goal on the campaign.
• Then the Crew claimed the game-winner just three minutes later. Schelotto was again the instigator, holding off a defender with his back to goal in the left corner before flighting in a cross that Eddie Gaven snapped home with a header, his first goal of the season. For Schelotto, it was his league-leading 16th assist.
• Crew head coach Sigi Schmid made one change to the team to the team that defeated Real Salt Lake 3-0 the Saturday before at home. With Danny O'Rourke suspended, Andy Iro came back into central defense.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-4-1-1): William Hesmer - Frankie Hejduk, Andy Iro, Chad Marshall, Gino Padula - Eddie Gaven (Pat Noonan 74), Brian Carroll, Brad Evans, Robbie Rogers (Jed Zayner 89) - Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Stefani Miglioranzi 94+) - Alejandro Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Jason Garey, Andy Gruenebaum, Steven Lenhart, Duncan Oughton
• "I thought we showed a lot of character in the first half going down 1-0 and basically responding right away with two goals right away," Schmid said. "But that's been the character of our team all season. The second half wasn't the most artistic. It was one of those where we had to hang on. It didn't seem like we got any breaks on the calls but our guys held tough. Sometimes when you're not playing your best, you've got to find different ways to win. Overall, I'm just proud of our team and our character."
TEAM NEWS
• Schelotto recorded two assists in a game for the sixth time on the season, and his 16 for the year are a Columbus team record. He leads the league by six assists over his nearest follower. In the last three matches, all wins, the Crew have seven goals and he's contributed a goal and six assists.
• "He (Schelotto) is somebody who can be considered for MVP of the league this year," Schmid said. "The guys know he can make special plays and get the ball into him in the right positions. He's been doing it for us all season. The key thing is to get him into spots where he can make a difference and we've been able to do that on a pretty consistent basis this year."
• Said Eddie Gaven: "He's definitely a very, very special player. He has such a great impact on the game. He adds so much to this team."
• In recent weeks, Schelotto has also brought Gaven more into the attack. Against Real Salt Lake, Gaven recorded his first assist since the season opener, and he hit for his first goal against FC Dallas.
• "It was great because we actually moved him to the other side of the field. We thought maybe we could get a little luck with Robbie (Rogers) on the other side and he just made a great run off the ball," Schmid said. "He does so many other little things for our team which don't get seen but are very important to maintain the rhythm."
• The Crew defense has also started to clamp down in recent weeks, allowing two goals over the last three games.
• "I think (Will Hesmer) is one of the top goalkeepers in this league," Schmid said. "Chad Marshall I think has got to be a candidate for defender of the year. For sure, he is the automatic winner of comeback of the year because he played just 12 games last year with the concussion. Andy Iro stepped in today for Danny O'Rourke and had a solid game. We've never lost a game when Gino (Padula) started for us. Getting him back on the field helps us because he's smart positionally and is solid. Frankie (Hejduk) is always buzzing and continues to give you that."
• Since late May, the Crew and Revolution have occupied the top two spots in the Eastern Conference. Saturday's match is the first of two meetings in September; they will conclude the season series in what could be a title-deciding clash on Sept. 27 in Foxborough.
• "We've had good results here in a row but the next one is the most important," midfielder Brian Carroll said. "New England is right behind us and it seems like the East just gets closer and closer with each passing week."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution played to a tie for the second consecutive week, this time needing to come back from a goal down in the second half before settling for a 2-2 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution again fell out of first place in the Eastern Conference, now with 38 points from 22 matches, two behind Columbus but still three points ahead of Chicago.
LAST MATCH
• The Revolution had returned to a long league layoff with two losses and a draw in four games while the Galaxy were riding a nine-game winless streak, their last win coming on June 14.
• The Revolution opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a dramatic goal. Khano Smith sent a diagonal, curling ball behind the Galaxy defense and Taylor Twellman reacted before goalkeeper Steve Cronin, heading home into a vacated net just an instant before catching Cronin's fists full in the face.
• The Galaxy pulled even in the 34th minute as Donovan scored his first. A Peter Vagenas diagonal ball sent Donovan drifting wide towards the left corner. but the U.S. international lashed with his left foot and volleyed first-time past a recovering Matt Reis at the near post.
• Ten minutes after the break, the Galaxy took the lead. Eddie Lewis sliced open the Revolution central defense with a through ball and Donovan raced into the empty space before coolly finishing past Reis for his league-leading 16th goal on the season.
• But the Revolution found an equalizer 19 minutes from the end. Michael Parkhurst stepped into midfield and found Shalrie Joseph space between Vagenas and Lewis. Joseph skipped through the Galaxy rearguard before firing home to the near post to knot the score.
• Revolution head coach Steve Nicol made two changes to the team that played to a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC the previous weekend. Gabriel Padilla made his MLS debut, starting in the back four, and Pat Phelan came into the team, replacing the injured Steve Ralston as well as Chris Tierney.
• Here's Nicol's team (4-4-1-1): Matt Reis - Chris Albright, Michael Parkhurst, Gabriel Badilla, Jay Heaps - Wells Thompson (Mauricio Castro 78), Jeff Larentowicz, Pat Phelan (Sainey Nyassi 33), Khano Smith - Shalrie Joseph - Taylor Twellman. Substitutes Not Used: Amaechi Igwe, Chris Tierney, Brandon Tyler, Rob Valentino, Doug Warren
• "Clearly you can see the difference in one team that had traveled 6,000 miles in the last week and one that's been resting. You see the sharpness in their play that we didn't have. And frankly, we're never going to be able to do that with what we've been doing," Nicol said. "We should be happy, but at the same time, I know if there was a trophy for (guts), our team would win hand down. The way the guys came back, we're one team hanging on at the end, which is incredible for what we've been doing. We're proud of our team, so we're going keep going."
TEAM NEWS
• Steve Ralston was forced out of the CONCACAF Champions League match at midweek in the first half with back spasms, which kept him unavailable for the Galaxy match. As a result, Shalrie Joseph was pushed forward into the midfield, playing underneath lone striker Taylor Twellman - but the experiment lasted just about a half-hour.
• "We struggled. We've got one fit striker on the club, so we're going to have to find ways of trying to get another guy up there. Obviously, it didn't work. So we changed it. We gave it enough time to see if it would click, so we changed it," Nicol said.
• A returnee to the Revolution lineup, though, was goalkeeper Matt Reis, who had missed the previous two matches after a groin injury that forced him off early in the second half of the match in San Jose, snapping his lengthy consecutive-minute streak.
• "It was all right. I had a couple days off and getting back to it, I did all right," Reis said. "(The injury) should be all right. The legs are a little heavy from workouts, but it's just the first game back."
• Then on Tuesday, the Revolution were eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League after a 4-0 loss to Joe Public FC in the second leg of their preliminary round series. Gregory Richardson scored a hat trick, giving him four goals for the tie, and Reon Nelson added another as the T&T Pro League side won 6-1 on aggregate.
• "We've got nothing in the tank. We started a Champions League game with no forwards. That says it all ... Well, no forwards, injuries, fatigue. What else do you want me to throw on?" Nicol said. "Nobody likes getting beat 4-nil at home, but as I said, you just got nothing in there, so what's left? No forwards, injury, fatigue, what's left? Suspensions? That's the only thing we didn't have - players suspended. We'll move on. We'll get some strength back in the next couple of weeks and we'll play on."
• After his brave collision to score the Revolution opener on Saturday night, Twellman was unable to start, leaving Nicol without an out-and-out striker to start.
• Here's Nicol's team: Matt Reis - Chris Tierney, Amaechi Igwe, Gabriel Badilla, Jay Heaps, Mauricio Castro, Shalrie Joseph (Rob Valentino 68), Jeff Larentowicz (Pat Phelan 46), Wells Thompson, Khano Smith, Brandon Manzonelli (Joe Germanese 72)
• If there was a silver lining from the Champions League elimination, it's that the Revolution will face just one game a week for the remainder of the season.
• "We've got to be smart and take care of ourselves. We are running low right now and we are filling in players where we can and just filling the gaps. We just need to be smart and take care of ourselves and get ready for the end," Reis said. "... It's going to be tough for us. We really have got to get off the field and take care of ourselves and hopefully some of the guys who are injured come back."
