CARSON, Calif. -- In the 20th minute of their match against Chivas USA, the Columbus Crew fell behind 1-0.
In the 21st minute Chivas USA added a second goal.
In the 22nd minute defender Danny O'Rourke was ejected and the Crew were reduced to 10 players for the rest of the match, which they went on to lose 2-0 at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night.
The match, though, was all but lost before any of that happened.
"We weren't keeping the ball the first 20 minutes of the game and that's what killed us," said Crew defender Ezra Hendrickson.
Added Crew coach Sigi Schmid: "We played a man down basically from the moment we got off the bus."
For the third consecutive match, the Crew were unable to find the back of the net. Guillermo Barros Schelotto made little impact in the first half and was substituted for to start the second half, and Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan stopped the Crew's two best chances -- shots by Brad Evans and Adam Moffat -- with superb saves.
Chivas USA struck first midway through the first half when Jorge Flores volleyed a ball past Will Hesmer from inside the penalty area. On the play, though, it appeared that Chivas USA's Atiba Harris pushed O'Rourke, creating the space that led to the goal.
"I don't know if it was a push by Harris on O'Rourke but I think he clears the ball if he doesn't get pushed," said Schmid. "But that's the way the game goes."
A minute later, Marsch put Chivas ahead by two goals.
Then, before the Crew were able to regroup after the goals, they were left shorthanded after O'Rourke made a high-footed tackle on Harris and was given a red card. The challenge left Harris with a deep laceration on his knee that required four stitches at halftime.
After going down a player, though, the Crew continued to fight.
"Playing a man down I thought we got some things," said Schmid. "Guzan had to come up with a big save and overall I wasn't disappointed with how we played."
Columbus forward Alejandro Moreno also felt the Crew battled after their early struggles.
"I think we got more of the ball with 10 men than we did with 11 men," he said. "We had confidence in the second half and we put the work in but it didn't pan out for us."
After an impressive start to the season in which the Crew won six of their first seven matches, the Crew now find themselves winless in their last three and looking to regain their early season form.
"We want to get back to our winning ways," said Hendrickson. "We're not going to hang our heads. It's been a difficult last few games but we're still very confident. You're going to have success and failures and the key is to bounce back from games like this."
In order to regain that form, though, the Crew will need to find their finishing touch next week against San Jose.
"Goals come and go but as long as we stick to what we know we're successful at and we continue to be organized we'll be able to put the ball in the back of the net," said Moreno. "We'll look to do that against San Jose next week."
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