The Columbus Crew have grabbed the edge in the race for this season’s Supporter’s Shield, which goes to the MLS team with the best regular-season record. The Crew’s Eddie Gaven scored a stoppage-time penalty kick to give the Crew a dramatic victory over the West-leading Houston Dynamo.
Veteran Frankie Hejduk opened the scoring for the Crew in the 34th minute. The Dynamo equalized in the 80th minute when substitute Cam Weaver converted off a Brian Ching flick-on. Minutes later, both the Crew’s Adam Moffett and the Dynamo’s Ricardo Clark got ejected after a scuffle between the two. The tense affair came to a head in stoppage when referee Jorge Gonzalez whistled Dynamo defender Geoff Cameron for grabbing Alejandro Moreno in the penalty box.
Columbus (11-4-9) has now won six of its last seven and extended its regular-season home unbeaten streak to an MLS record 21 games (15-0-6). Houston (11-4-9) dropped its second game in a row. Houston is 1-3-2 in the past six games and 2-5-3 over 10. Both teams have difficult mid-week Champions League games. The Crew travels to Costa Rica on Wednesday to face Saprissa while the Dynamo travels to Pachuca in Mexico.