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Richards' run gives Red Bulls 1-0 upset of Crew

Aug 31, 2009 - 1:26 AM By JIM HAGUE STATS MLS Correspondent

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (STATS) \2013 No one knows why the New York Red Bulls have now won two consecutive games after failing to win a single contest since May. But no one is complaining about it.

"I don't know what happened in the beginning of the season, but we're playing at peace right now and I like it," said Red Bulls forward Dane Richards, who made a 50-yard run with a loose ball off a corner to give the Red Bulls a 1-0 upset over Columbus and snap the Crew's five-game win streak Sunday night.

"Luck is coming around again for us," Richards said. "We definitely don't want to go down as the league's worst team and we want to give the fans something to cheer about."

The win was the second straight for the lowly Red Bulls (4-16-4) since Richie Williams was made interim head coach after the resignation of Juan Carlos Osorio.

"We haven't had a lot to be happy about here this season," said Williams, who now holds a 5-3-2 career mark as a head coach, also having a stint as an interim coach in 2006. "To win for a second straight time is a great feeling for all of us. We want to play for pride and for one another. It's been a tough year, an unfortunate year. Maybe sometimes change is a good thing and maybe this change helped in a good way. I can't put my finger on it."

First-place Columbus (10-4-9) lost for the first time since June 20 but still holds a one-point lead over Chicago in the Eastern Conference.

Richards scored his third goal of the season off a spectacular run following a Columbus corner attempt in the 63rd minute.

It was broken up by midfielder Seth Stammler and the ball rolled out to near midfield, where Richards ran onto it.

Richards carried the ball more than 50 yards, with only midfielder Brian Carroll as the lone player back for the Crew. Richards juked and danced his way past Carroll with a series of four moves, then fired a right-footed shot that rolled past Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum.

"The first thing I thought was that I was going too fast," Richards said. "I was going all over the place. But when I saw there was only one guy to beat, I pushed him back into the box, made a few moves and then finished it."

"Anytime you have Dane in the open field with his speed, I'll take that," Williams said. "He made a great move and got the shot off."

The Crew started a makeshift lineup, with usual starters Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Danny O'Rourke, Robbie Rogers and Alejandro Moreno on the sidelines. Rogers and Moreno later entered as reserves and Schelotto entered the game in the 88th minute.

"I know they didn't have some of their key guys, but I didn't look at it like it was a second lineup they sent out there," Williams said. "They're the defending champions. They're a good team no matter what. They didn't take it any easier on us."

The Red Bulls had the better of the scoring opportunities, including in the 59th minute when forward John Wolyniec bounced a shot off the right post. Juan Pablo Angel just missed in the 32nd minute with a header.

Columbus' best chance to score came in the 25th, when Chad Marshall's shot was stopped at the goal line by Red Bulls defender Danleigh Borman.

Bouna Coundoul, starting his third game with the Red Bulls since his trade to New York from Colorado June 29, made one save for his 17th career shutout, his first with his new team.