Chad Marshall scored late in the first half, William Hesmer needed to make only one save in his first match in more than two months, and the Columbus Crew beat the New York Red Bulls 1-0 on Saturday night in a rematch of the 2008 MLS Cup final.
Marshall scored his second goal of the season off a corner kick by Guillermo Barros Schelotto in the 45th minute. The pair also connected in the same manner for the winning goal in the Crew's 3-1 MLS Cup victory.
Hesmer missed the previous nine games with knee and back injuries.
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.
New York (2-12-4) had its MLS-record, regular-season road winless streak extended 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.
Columbus has not lost in 18 home games (13-0-5), including two playoffs wins, since June 8, 2008.
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Story from: STATS LLC, http://www.stats.com.
Copyright 2009 AP News
