The difference between losing and possibly pulling out a least a tie on the road could have been that, for the Columbus Crew, their Argentinean star played the full match, while the Kansas City Wizards' was limited to the second half because of illness.
Claudio Lopez came off the bench at the start of the second half to move the Wizards into 1-1 tie in the 51st minute but fellow countryman Guillermo Barros Schelotto regained the lead for Columbus four minutes later and the Crew went to record their first win, 3-2 on Saturday night.
Although Schelotto did not have an assist on the first goal by Emmanuel Ekpo in the 38th minute, he was a factor on the play as the 2008 MLS MVP was on most of the Crew's scoring opportunities.
"Schelotto has his hands in everything," Kansas City coach Curt Onalfo said. "He shows the class that he is tonight. He scores a crucial goal right after we tie it up and we have a little bit of momentum. He somehow stays alert and we fall a little bit asleep.
"If you look at the first goal, it was his little flick-on. The guy's part of everything. He causes you issues all game long."
Meanwhile, Lopez could only watch the first half from the bench and Onalfo didn't want to bring him in directly after intermission but felt the Wizards needed a jump.
"He was sick. That was the reason he didn't start. He flew in today. He was on antibiotics and felt good enough to play," Onalfo said. "The plan all along was to utilize him in the second half if need be. I probably only wanted to play him 30 minutes but the game dictated that we could make the change."
Lopez scored off a free kick about 22 yards to the right of goal. He bent his left-footed strike into the goal area and it bounced untouched into the net for his third goal.
"Claudio's service is unbelievable," forward Josh Wolff said. "Around the goal he's a very good finisher as well. When he's out there you get those qualities back on the field and you have a few more guys who are able to pull off plays. He came in and we stepped up the tempo the second half, especially at the end."
Schelotto quickly responded to Lopez's goal, much to the chagrin of Onalfo. Defender Frankie Hejduk sent a cross to the left post and Schelotto scored on a diving header as he crashed into the pipe.
"The change to Lopez helped us get a goal right away," said Onalfo. "Unfortunately we made a mistake right away and Schelotto punished us. You have to give credit to Frankie Hejduk, too. It was a very intelligent ball out of the back."
The Crew made it 3-1 on an Eddie Gaven volley in the 78th minute but Wolff countered a minute later with a header just in front of the goal off Jack Jewsbury's pinpoint service. Herculez Gomez, another second-half substitute, also assisted but it was not enough.
"I felt like Josh would cause some problems on our right-hand side, their left-hand side because (Gino) Padula was a little banged up with his ankle and it worked," Onalfo said.
"Jack gets a good ball out wide and puts an incredible ball. I'm just peeling off my defender," Wolff said. "It's about service and timing in front of the goal and we pulled it off pretty well but it's disappointing at the end of the day."
Wolff has four goals in the past five matches.
"We gave up three goals. That's tough to come back from on the road," he said. "We got two, which is good. We answered them again on the second half. We've done it in the past where we've given up the lead and come back pretty well.
"We pushed the game a bit but we gave up two quick goals. We were a bit soft on our side. We've got to do better. Both ends of the field we've got to be better."
The Wizards (3-4-2) were coming off a 1-1 tie at home with D.C. United while the Crew had been idle since a 1-1 tie at Toronto FC on May 2. But Onalfo said fatigue was not a factor.
"We don't make excuses. We find solutions. At the end of the day we weren't good enough tonight," he said. "I felt we had an opportunity the entire game. I knew we were going to be dangerous for stretches of the game and we were. It was unfortunate we were a little bit off tonight."
It was the wrong time against the wrong opponent. The Crew, the defending MLS champions, were 0-2-5 to start the season but fielded their healthiest and strongest lineup since the season opener.
"As I said prior to the game, I have enormous respect for the Columbus Crew. They're a very good team. They have a lot of weapons," Onalfo said. "They also have a very underrated forward in Alejandro Moreno. I'm frustrated because I felt we played good enough to get a point and we didn't and that's not good enough."
Craig Merz is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
