Emmanuel Ekpo, Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Eddie Gaven scored for Columbus in a 3-2 win over the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night.
Schelotto's diving header in the 55th minute helped secure the victory for the defending MLS Cup champion Crew (1-2-5), who have struggled this year despite fielding a team largely comprised of the same players who won last year's title.
Claudio Lopez scored for Kansas City (3-4-2) just six minutes after entering the game at halftime. Josh Wolff added a goal in the 79th minute.
Ekpo's goal came in the 38th minute, and followed consecutive backheel passes from Gino Padula, Alejandro Moreno and Schelotto. Robbie Rogers then laid off the ball for Ekpo inside the penalty area.
Lopez tied the game in the 51st minute with his third goal of the year, a left-footed free kick that curled into the box where it bounced in the back of the net untouched and past out-of-position Crew goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum.
Schelotto reclaimed the lead for the Crew four minutes later, and Gaven made it 3-1 in the 78th minute with a right-footed strike that beat Kevin Hartman inside the left goalpost.
Columbus had little time to savor the two-goal lead — Wolff tallied his fourth goal barely a minute later — but the Crew was able to hang on and hand coach Robert Warzycha his first victory since he was given control following the departure of Sigi Schmid for expansion Seattle.
Referee Jorge Gonzalez handed out five yellow cards, all in the second half. Kansas City's Lance Watson, Roger Espinoza and Matt Besler were booked, as were the Crew's Frankie Hejduk and Gruenebaum.
Gonzalez paused the game briefly in the second half as debris thrown from a corner of the stadium was cleared from the pitch near where Kansas City was attempting a corner kick.
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Story from: STATS LLC, http://www.stats.com.
Copyright 2009 AP News
