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Beckham got only a yellow card present for playing the Crew.

Beckham Bashed -- Crew 1, Galaxy 0 (10/4) -- A full house is nice even if it was the competition's spawn. Even David Beckham's imperial entrance into the capital city, which gets most of the credit for the sold out Crew Stadium last night (it wasn't the horse show, folks), wasn't enough to keep down the locals, as the Massive and the teeming throng in the Nordecke joined together to defeat the LA Galaxy 1-0. Columbus improves again by another 3 points to 16-6-5, and 53 points, a full ten ahead of any other side. Fans who came to see Becks got more than last year at least. The 2007 visit by the Galaxy to Massive Field saw no play by the enterprising Englishman, who was nursing an injury. This year he played, sure enough, and was frustrated sufficiently to draw a yellow card at 32 minutes for a reckless tackle on Robbie Rogers. This was not a Beckham party, though -- it was truly a Crew croud, and the Union, Hooligans and La Turbina in the Nordecke were in rare form to support our local heroes. They got their due by an Alejandro Moreno goal before the half at 43 minutes, his ninth of the year. Moreno served as captain last night as Frankie Hejduk served a suspension, and his role was even bigger given the suspension of coach Sigi Schmidt as well, both sentences handed down via ejection in last week's win over New England. His goal came on a header off a pass from D Danny O'Rourke, and it was the only score Columbus would need. The Massive also got a boost by the return of MF Guillermo Barros Schelotto for about an hour of somewhat nondescript play, but it was still heartening to see the Argentine leader's return to the pitch with the playoffs looming.

Beckham came to town for LA, not England.

Massive Musings (9/29) -- This is getting too easy, isn't it? The Crew is now on a 7-1-1 streak and is 9-2-2 at home on the year. Two recent games have been against the supposed top contender, the formerly feared New England Revolution, yet the patriotic also rans couldn't muster a single goal in either match against GK Wil Hesmer and company. Columbus now has an 8 point lead over the second place Revs. So. Cal Struggles -- The Massive are heading into Saturday's sold out game at Crew Stadium against David Beckham and the Galaxy, which has a 7:30 pm start. Get there early, as the "horsey show" is also in town and parking will be at a premium. Los Angeles comes in at a disappointing 29 points and a 7-11-8 record, compared to 15-6-5 for Columbus. LA lost an ugly game last week 3-1 to Chicago and has only one win in fourteen games. Beckham, traditionally an assists machine, has only 9 on the year compared to 18 for Guillermo Barros Schelotto, despite having played 23 games and 2000 minutes. Schelotto has not played the last three games but should be back for some action on Saturday. Former Crew star Edson Buddle has 13 goals for LA, second to Landon Donovan's 19. Now, if LA could just keep the ball from flying into its own net  ...  Massive Minutiae -- Columbus is on a big playoff drought, with no postseason since 2004. Not only are the playoffs clinched, but Columbus is in line to win the "Supporters Shield" for the top MLS squad. Not exactly the Lombardi Trophy or the Stanley Cup, but it'll do. 

The Massive clinch a playoff spot.

Playoff Push -- Crew 1, New England 0 (W) -- 9/27 -- The path to the playoffs continued on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium outside of Boston as the Massive Crew clinched what had already been a presumed playoff spot, defeating the New England Revolution 1-0. Columbus improved to a franchise best 50 points and a 15-6-5 overall record on Chad Marshall's 35th minute goal, the only score of the match. Robbie Rogers assisted from a splendid corner kick, helping Marshall to his fourth goal of the season. The Crew then went on a desperate defense in the second half as veteran Frankie Hejduk, last week's hero, was ejected on a second yellow card after intentionally fouling New England GK Matt Reis from behind, leaving the Crew down a man for the balance. Once again, MF Guillermo Barros Schelotto did not play due to a healing hamstring. The next game for the Massive is at home and is sold out against Davd Beckham and the LA Galaxy, on October 4. 

Tags: columbus crew, crew, mls, soccer