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Emmanuel Ekpo had his first MLS score.

Crew 2, Colorado 1 (6/30) -- The Crew kept the points rolling in last night again with a one goal victory over the visiting Western Conference Colorado Rapids. Columbus improved its record to an impressive 8-4-2, good for 26 total points and second place in the East, still behind New England. Once again Guillermo Barros Schelotto ignited the home team, this time with a PK goal at 54 minutes, his third on the year. When Schelotto goes without a point (a goal or an assist, and with Schelotto normally the latter) the Crew is 4-11-5 over the Argentinian's tenure in Cowtown. When he gets a point, our hard working heroes are 12-4-4 and an incredible 6-0-1 in 2008. Schelotto's goal was the first Crew score at home in nearly 200 minutes, despite the apparent success of this year's campaign. Colorado was without fellow Argentinian and assist leader (5) Christian Gomez, who was scratched before the match. Unfazed, the Rapids came back a few minutes after Schelotto's PK with a goal off of undefended Nick LaBrocca. The Crew iced the victory suds with Nigerian rookie Emmanuel Ekpo's first MLS goal at 70 minutes. Ekpo dribbled right through the defense and smashed one into the lower left goal netting. Frankly, Ekpo's goal basically made up for similar failed first half tactics, when his long stretches of dribbling downfield led to turnovers. He is one of the highest paid Crew players, so the 12,254 in the announced attendance can rejoice in relief, as they did for quite some time after the final whistle blew last night. Next up -- at home against the Chicago Fire at 8 pm on Sat. 7/5.

Guillermo Barros Schelotto is back to his old form.

Bring it on Home -- Columbus (7-4-2) returns to its home digs this Saturday evening to host the Colorado Rapids (5-7-1), hoping to land a large raucous crowd on a warm summer night in what appears to continue towards an exciting playoff caliber season. The Crew travelled to LA last weekend before 27,000 in 90 degree weather to take on David Beckham, Landon Donovan and the LA Galaxy (6-4-3) and came away with the famous kiss your sister "road point" after salvaging a 3-3 tie with three second half goals. The first Crew goal did not come until the 67th minute, when Guillermo Barros Schelotto guided a ball off a Galaxy player allowing Brad Evans to net the score. Schelotto then added a goal of his own four minutes later on a PK after Robbie Rogers was obviously tripped in the enemy goal area. LA fought back as Donovan netted his second goal on a PK, but Columbus got the equalizer off late substitute Stephen Lenhart's first season goal with two minutes left in regulation. Former Crew star Edison Buddle scored for the Galaxy early in the second. The Crew is second in the East behind New England (8-4-3), but the Revolution have played two more games. The Crew's next opponent, Colorado, is on a three game winless streak.

Alejandro Moreno gained new life for the Crew.

Crew 3, Kansas City 0 (6/14) -- A little road trippin' through Oz is all it took. The Crew went looking for its heart and brain Saturday night and found them in early season star Alejandro Moreno, who netted two goals en route to the Crew's slumpbusting 3-0 victory in Kansas City. Columbus is now 7-4-1 with 22 points and ended its team record scoreless streak in mighty fashion. The first score came quickly in the 3rd minute off the head of Chad Marshall, who was playing an excellent corner from Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Danny O'Rourke returned to action after his previous red card ejection and assisted Moreno's first score in the 20th minute. True to form, O'Rourke proceeded to draw a yellow card on a nasty tackle late in the first half to try to keep Kansas City in the game, but Moreno scored again on the 66th minute off a deflected Schelotto pass to seal the victory.  

Keeper Wil Hesmer could not stop the headers.

San Jose 2, Crew 0 (6/7) -- Columbus continued its tailspin Saturday night with a 2-0 shutout loss to expansion and generally hapless San Jose. It marked four games without a victory and four games without a goal as well for the Crew, now 6-4-1. The Crew attacked again and again but could not find the net, to the chagrin of the announced crowd of 11,704, which was as crazy as ever despite league warnings, though the smoke bombs were left behind at home. The Earthquakes got their first early goal of the year in just the tenth minute on Ryan Johnson's header past GK Wil Hesmer. A second header from Ramiro Corrales sealed the home loss. Ronnie O'Brien assisted both San Jose goals. The Crew's closest chance was by Alejandro Moreno at 65 minutes, but he was ruled to have knocked the ball into the goal with his arm, despite pretty clear evidence that he had been pushed. The Crew suffered a late ejection, D Brad Evans, as did San Jose (D James Riley) after the play turned ugly in the waning minutes. Next up are at Chicago in the US Open Cup on Tuesday  night 6/10, which does not count for the MLS standings, and a regular season MLS match at KC on Saturday night 6/14.  

Keep the smoke bombs at home, Crew fans.

Tables Turned -- A fantastic 6-1 start to the 2008 season has soured a bit as the Crew have struggled three games in a row, not counting the Open Cup 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake, which of course does not count in the MLS standings. The Crew dropped to 6-3-1 with last Saturday's 2-0 loss in Southern California to resurgent Chivas USA. Chivas netted back to back goals in the 20th and 21st minutes by Jorge Flores and Jesse Marsch. Flores' goal was somewhat controversial as Crew defender Danny O'Rourke took a push that created space for the score. O'Rourke worsened things more just one minute later as he was booted with a red card for a bad tackle on Atiba Harris, the same Chivas player who had just pushed O'Rourke. Playing a man down, the Crew never maintained an attacking flow, and normally reliable Guillermo Barros Schelotto was benched to start the second half. Crew Cuts -- The Crew have now failed to score in each of the last three regulation MLS season games, a 0-0 tie with Toronto, the 2-0 loss to Chivas and a 1-0 loss to New England (the now infamous fan smoke bomb and battery throwing game). This ties a team record for lack of productivity. Where has Alejandro Moreno gone!? Columbus needs a victory over San Jose this Saturday night (6/7) to right the ship and keep the fans coming. The match is at Crew Stadium at 7:30 pm, so leave the Columbus Arts Festival downtown early and come join the hot and increasingly boisterous crowds, but leave the batteries and smoke bombs behind, please. San Jose is 2-6-1 with just seven goals scored on the year. Danny Boy -- Defender Danny O'Rourke must sit out this game with San Jose due to his recent red card. Coach Sigi Schmidt is also getting concerned about O'Rourke's general over-agressiveness. He's committed two fouls that turned into PK goals for the opposition, and last Saturday's red card killed any real chance of a Crew comeback from a 2-0 deficit.

Tags: columbus crew, crew, mls, soccer