• Recap
• Bleachers

Own goal dooms Crew in loss to Chivas USA

Jul 15, 2007 - 6:42 AM CARSON, California (Ticker) -- A mental mistake in the 69th minute led to Chivas USA gaining a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Crew on Saturday.

Eddie Gaven redirected midfielder Francisco Mendoza's shot into his own goal, snapping a 1-1 tie and ending the Crew's unbeaten streak at six games.

With its team set to become the Los Angeles Clippers to the LA Galaxy's Los Angeles Lakers as soon as David Beckham laces up his boots for the rivals, Chivas USA made one last case for Home Depot Center dominance when it put on an offensive showcase in the first half.

"It's good, it's great to be back home, playing at home, getting the three points tonight," Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan said. "Now we need to keep that going."

Chivas (7-5-3) took eight shots in the first - four on goal - but missed several chances before taking a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute. Maykel Galindo blasted a shot which slid under Columbus goalkeeper Will Hesmer to the waiting foot of Ante Razov, who deposited it into the goal for his fourth tally of the season.

"I believe that Columbus is a very underrated team," Chivas coach Preki said. "As you might know, they have done very well in their last five, six games and haven't lost once and are playing very good."

Columbus (5-5-7) did not need long to notch the equalizer, scoring a goal from inside the penalty area in the 23rd minute.

Stefani Miglioranzi grabbed a feed from Guillermo Barros Schelotto and sent a header just beneath the crossbar past Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan to tie the game.

The speedy Galindo shot just wide in the 36th minute and missed again in the 45th minute, when he could not get any power behind his header, creating an easy save for Hesmer.

"I feel that we had several chances that we should have put away," Preki said. "Their goalkeeper made at least two saves to keep them in the game. I gotta give them credit, they make it difficult, especially at the end, and we dealt with it and that's how we won."

"For us, it's been a season of ups and downs, of injuries and guys being gone to different events at different times," Columbus coach Sigi Schmid. "We're hoping to get everybody back at the same time. Getting these people back will help us regain our momentum."