in their final home game for more than a month. The Crew hadn't lost in more than a month as they moved into the thick of the Eastern Conference race.
• Chivas took the lead after just 19 minutes. Jesse Marsch won the ball outside the area and found Maykel Galindo. He rounded a Crew defender in the area and drove a low ball into the goalmouth that skipped past a second defender for Ante Razov to tap in.
• But the Crew leveled matters just four minutes later. Guillermo Barros Schelotto served a corner from the right and Stefani Miglioranzi got up to smash a header that hit the underside of the bar and came nearly straight down, but still over the line.
• Chivas scored the winner in the 69th minute through some good fortune. Francisco Mendoza received a corner outside the penalty area and sent a half-shot, half-cross toward the far post that took a deflection off Eddie Gaven past goalkeeper Will Hesmer.
• Crew head coach Sigi Schmid made two changes to the team that defeated Real Salt Lake 2-0 the week before. Eddie Gaven and Andy Herron both came back into the team, in place of Ned Grabavoy and the injured Jacob Thomas.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-2-3-1): Will Hesmer - Frankie Hejduk, Marcos Gonzalez (Ezra Hendrickson 68), Chad Marshall, Rusty Pierce - Stefani Miglioranzi (Kei Kamara 81), Danny O'Rourke - Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Eddie Gaven, Alejandro Moreno, Andy Herron (Ned Grabavoy 62). Substitutes Not Used: Jason Garey, Andy Gruenebaum, Duncan Oughton, Jed Zayner
• "This game tonight was not necessarily our best game. I don't think we were horrible. We had some chances. I thought we gave up a couple of goals that were a little bit soft," Schmid said. "But they had some chances. Our goalie made some big saves to keep us in it. And it's just one of those, you know. You've got to finish when get your opportunities."
TEAM NEWS
• The Crew felt they had done enough to come away from southern California with at least a point. "We created enough chances but in the end we received an own goal and we come out of here without anything," Alejandro Moreno said. "We're very disappointed." Said Ezra Hendrickson: "We had some chances. Their 'keeper made some really good saves, in particular the header at the end. Both teams had chances and each team deserved a point tonight."
• The Crew have now been shutout just once in their last 10 games - and on that occasion, were able to get a point in a scoreless draw with FC Dallas. This time, though, they allowed a goal for the first time since June 23, and then the own goal was the decider.
• "We've been able to find a way to get results that past three or four weeks and be more consistent with our performances," said Moreno. "Looking ahead, we need to pick things up for next week and do better."
• It was the first loss for the Crew since June 10, a 2-1 defeat by Houston Dynamo at Crew Stadium.
• "We didn't do all the things we wanted to do on the field but we were still dangerous and we still created chances going forward," Moreno said. "It was a struggle at times for us and we didn't get into a rhythm. We gave the ball away way too easily and we didn't play the ball quick enough at times. Having said that, we still gave ourselves enough chances to get out of here with a good result but we didn't do that."
• Stefani Miglioranzi scored his second goal in six games, both coming from corner kicks. "I thought today's was the better header. Guillermo once again delivered a great ball, and it was there for me to attack," Miglioranzi said. "I attacked it and timed it perfectly and outjumped the guard. It looked for a minute like it was going to hit the bar and come back up, but it clipped the underside and went in."
TORONTO FC
Toronto FC were on the road for a fifth consecutive game and ran their unbeaten streak to four, going down a man in the first half and holding on for a scoreless draw against the table-topping Houston Dynamo on Sunday evening at Robertson Stadium. TFC now has 19 points from 16 matches, sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the Columbus Crew and seven out of first place.
LAST MATCH
• Dynamo came into the game riding a nine-game league winning streak following their 4-0 win against the Chicago Fire three days earlier, while Toronto FC were in the fifth game of a six-game road swing, unbeaten in their last three.
• Dynamo came closest to scoring -- and in fact, did see Joseph Ngwenya put the ball in the back of the net, only for it to be ruled out for offside. Brian Ching hit a low drive from the left side of the area in the 32nd minute that hit the base of the far post and came back out.
• The game turned in the 42nd minute when TFC midfielder Maurice Edu was sent off by referee Abbey Okulaja following a mid-air challenge with Houston's Brian Mullan that left the Dynamo midfielder bloodied and shaken.
• Dynamo piled on the pressure over the closing 45 minutes, but were unable to break through the TFC defense. But Houston kept the clean sheet to extend their shutout run to better than 11-1/2 hours, besting the mark of 682 minutes set by the Kansas City Wizards in 2000.
• Toronto FC head coach Mo Johnston made one change to the team that played to a 1-1 with the Chicago Fire the previous Saturday. Andrew Boyens came into central defense as Jim Brennan moved into the midfield, with Andy Welsh returning to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Johnston's team (4-4-2): Srdjan Djekanovic - Marvell Wynne, Andrew Boyens, Tyrone Marshall, Todd Dunivant - Ronnie O'Brien, Maurice Edu, Jim Brennan, Carl Robinson - Danny Dichio (Chris Pozniak 44), Collin Samuel (Andrea Lombardo 56). Substitutes Not Used: Adam Braz, Jeff Cunningham, Boris Pardo, Marco Reda, Andy Welsh
• "We have a good group of guys together. We have guys who can come off of the bench and help, and that's important when you're playing three or four games on the road," Johnston said. "We've been on the road now for five games, and we've only lost once, so we're coming along."
TEAM NEWS
• After Edu was sent off, Johnston took off Danny Dichio as he played with just a single forward. Still, he thought his team could have come up with a goal.
• "Offensively, we could have brought one last 20 minutes. Again, our tactic with [Andrea] Lombardo was to have him go in there and work his butt off for, I think it was 33 minutes," Johnston said. "It was important that we kept our shape in the back and look to play in the corners and move the ball up, and it worked very well to take four points off of the champions."
• Playing with only 10 men, there was more pressure on Toronto goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic to turn back Houston's attack. Johnston was pleased with his goalkeeper's play. Djekanovic has allowed one goal in his last two goals after "extreme hardship" replacement Sam Reynolds started two games before he was injured.
• "Our goalkeeper did very well tonight," Johnston said. "He stood on his hands tonight, and we're very, very pleased with him. He's come a long way since joining the team three or four months ago."
• Just past the halfway point of the season, TFC finds itself in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, but just seven points out of first place.
• "There's no pressure on this group," Johnston said. "They know what's ahead of them - it's the playoffs. We've got a bunch of games coming at home, we've been on the road for a long time now. Hopefully we can get back into the home stadium and get some points."
• After filling in as a central defender since the start of the season, the addition of Tyrone Marshall has finally allowed Jim Brennan to move into his preferred midfield role.
• "We worked hard as a team, and we made it tough for them. You could tell that they got frustrated and were trying to play long balls in the back, but we kept our shape, kept our lineup high, and we didn't give them any chances," he said.
• The game in Columbus will conclude the six-game road trip for the Reds, who were sent on the road while the FIFA Under-20 World Cup was being played in Canada.
• "It's been a very tough road trip, but the main thing is that we keep going along and keep on picking up points. We had a tough week last week, and we came away with five points, which we were happy with. We thought we should have got a couple extra ones in Chicago, we should've beaten them," Brennan said. "But today we played a team that's on top of the league, and they're up there for a reason. Formation-wise and the way they play, they're a good side. Coming away with a point, we're happy with that."
