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Crew down Red Bulls 1-0 in 2008 MLS Cup rematch

Jun 28, 2009 - 3:08 AM By CRAIG MERZ STATS MLS Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio (STATS) - If New York can find a way to stop Chad Marshall and Guillermo Barros Schelotto, the Red Bulls might be able to beat Columbus.

Marshall, the 2008 MLS Defender of the Year, scored off a corner kick by Schelotto, the league MVP last season, in the 45th minute for a 1-0 win in Crew Stadium on Saturday in a rematch of the 2008 MLS Cup.

In that match, Marshall also scored off a Schelotto corner kick in the 53rd minute for the winner during a 3-1 victory.

If Marshall's goal Saturday wasn't enough of a reminder of the title game for the Red Bulls, the Crew players and coaches received their championship rings prior to the match.

"We don't want have a bad performance after something like that," Marshall said. "It was good to get the three points at home and put on a good show for the fans."

Columbus (5-3-7) has won four straight at Crew Stadium after opening the season with three draws and is tied with Toronto FC for second place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind D.C. United.

The Crew has not lost in 18 home games (13-0-5), including two playoffs wins, since June 8, 2008.

New York (2-12-4) is going in the opposite direction. The Red Bulls extended their MLS-record, regular-season road winless to 22 matches (0-16-6) and is 0-7-2 in its last nine overall.

The Red Bulls, who won two playoff matches on the road to reach the MLS Cup final, have been outscored 17-1 while going 0-9-1 on the road this season and are last in the Eastern Conference.

"Obviously, the two away wins were big ones so we can take something away from that but certainly you read it and go, 'Holy cow,' " New York midfielder Seth Stammler said about the streak. "We treat road games with the same importance as home games so it's not like we're doing something strategically to let that happen."

The match was scoreless until Columbus converted the second of back-to back corner kicks. Marshall scored his second of the goal of the season and Guillermo Barros Schelotto had his third assist.

On the first try, Schelotto sent the ball to the head of Steven Lenhart 8 yards off goal. His flick was on target but defender Sinisa Ubiparipovic, who had entered for minutes earlier when Carlos Mendes injured his hip, headed the attempt over the crossbar.

Schelotto came back with another service that Marshall got his head on by going over New York forward Kano Smith from 10 yards. Goalkeeper Danny Cepero was screened by Eddie Gaven and could not stop the shot.

"That was huge for us before halftime," Crew coach Robert Warzycha said. "One goal was enough for us to win. We are happy."

The Red Bulls have allowed a league-high nine goals in the last 15 minutes of the first half and many have come right before the break.

"Those are times when teams usually let their guard down," New York forward John Wolyniec said. "It's a tough time to take a goal. It seems like we've been doing that to ourselves a lot this season. We put in a good effort in the second half and got some chances but it's really hard when you take a goal like that to rally the troops."

New York's best chance came in the 57th minute when Jorge Rojas' deflected shot hit the crossbar. Crew goalkeeper William Hesmer made one save in his return from missing nine games due to knee and back injuries.

"That was perfect," he said of the defensive effort. "We design it to give them a limited amount of chances."