After a defensive mistake by veteran Tony Sanneh appeared to be leading the Los Angeles Galaxy to their first loss in more than a month, veteran Eddie Lewis responded with a late goal for a 1-1 tie against the Columbus Crew on Sunday afternoon.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto had taken advantage of the miscue 20 minutes from the end, stripping Sanneh of the ball and scoring his fifth goal of the season. But the crowd in attendance at The Home Depot Center erupted in cheers a minute into injury time.
That's when Lewis helped save the match for the Galaxy when he sent a right-footed blast into the lower-left corner of the net. His shot from about 30 yards out beat diving Columbus goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum.
Lewis was at the right place at the precise moment after Crew defender Eric Brunner cleared a ball from the penalty area with a header. That left a loose ball outside the top of the penalty area, and Lewis celebrated his 35th birthday with the equalizer.
The goal saved a point for the Galaxy after a nearly disastrous mistake by Sanneh gave the Crew a 1-0 lead in the 70th minute.
After Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts sent a pass to Sanneh off a goal kick, the veteran defender attempted to return a soft rolling pass back the top of the penalty area. But Schelotto intercepted Sanneh's pass and sent a shot into the left corner of Ricketts' net.
That looked to be the difference. Instead, the Galaxy extended their unbeaten streak to seven games. The Galaxy have not lost since a 3-2 outing against Colorado more than a month ago.
The Galaxy entered Sunday on a six-game run of five draws and a 1-0 win against New York on May 2. The Galaxy are now 1-1-7 overall with 10 points in the Western Conference standings.
It was the fifth time this season the Crew (1-3-5) have conceded a second-half lead this season. Their first win of the season came last week, a 3-2 outing against Kansas City.
Columbus had the first real threat of the match in the 13th minute. That's when Robbie Rogers sent a blast from just outside the penalty box. Ricketts dove to his left, stopping Rogers' shot.
Ricketts again denied the Galaxy with another save when the Jamaican international stopped a Chad Marshall header from about eight yards out. Marshall got a good piece of a Schelotto corner kick from the left.
The Galaxy had another opportunity five minutes later when Mike Magee took a shot via header off a Bryan Jordan centered pass. The Crew's Gruenebaum made the save standing just a few feet from the mouth of his goal.
The Galaxy tried to push forward on a couple of occasions, but the Crew defense stood firm late in the first half.
A handful of Columbus attempts resulted in corner kicks. The Crew had five corners, compared to the Galaxy's one, in the first 45 minutes of play. Columbus outshot the home team 4-3 in the first half.
The Galaxy came out with a fast start in the second half, creating several opportunities. But similar to the story of the team's season, the Galaxy couldn't capitalize.
Stefani Miglioranzi had an open shot at goal from the top of the penalty box, but the midfielder couldn't make solid contact with the ball. He sent a weak shot inside the penalty area that looked more like a pass.
Ivan Orozco is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
