COLUMBUS -- Frankie Hejduk and Robbie Rogers staked the Columbus Crew to a lead with goals on either side of halftime and Eddie Gaven scored a late insurance goal as they extended their unbeaten streak with a 3-1 victory against the New York Red Bulls on MLS Primetime Thursday at Crew Stadium.
The Red Bulls had taken the lead in the 21st minute on a free kick goal by forward Juan Pablo Angel before Hejduk scored from long range in the 41st minute, then Rogers scored from even farther out in the opening moments of the second half.
Gaven added the third goal in the 85th minute for Columbus, which is 5-0-1 in the past six matches and is on the verge of clinching its first playoff spot since 2004.
Whatever Crew coach Sigi Schmid said at halftime must have worked because the Crew needed only 19 seconds to take a 2-1 lead -- the fastest they have ever scored at the start of a half.
Rogers took a short scooped pass from defender Gino Padula near the left sideline and did the work from there. Rogers went past two defenders and with plenty of space, he got behind a 30-yard right-footed strike that goalkeeper Jon Conway dove in vain to reach.
While Rogers has six goals on the season it was his first goal in 16 matches back to May 10. He also missed two games in August while away with the U.S. Olympic team in China.
Conway kept New York from going down by two with a foot save of Rogers in the 75th minute after a scramble in front of the goal, then Crew 'keeper Will Hesmer matched him less than 60 seconds later to thwart reserve forward John Wolyniec.
Hejduk helped ice the match by setting up Gaven as the Red Bulls gave up as many goals as they had allowed in the previous seven games.
The match started well for New York as it got a goal from an expected source while the Crew's counter was from an unlikely one as the teams went to halftime tied at 1-1.
Angel continued his torrid scoring with a stunning free kick from 35 yards to put New York ahead in the 21st minute. He forced the restart after being fouled by defender Chad Marshall.
Angel made the Crew pay with a curling line drive over the wall that carried past the outstretched arms of Hesmer into the upper right corner for his 10th goal of the season and eighth in the past 10 games.
It was left to Hejduk to level the score for the Crew 20 minutes later on a chip shot with his right instep from just outside the penalty area. Hejduk took a loose ball on the right side, faked midfielder Jorge Rojas into jumping to block a shot then dribbled several times before lofting a ball that could have been misconstrued as a cross but nonetheless sailed over Conway into the left side netting.
The goal was Hejduk's first since Sept. 10, 2005, and the 11th in 161 MLS games for the U.S. international.
The Crew went with the same starters that tied at Toronto 1-1 on Saturday. That meant forward Guillermo Barros Schelotto missed his second consecutive match because of a strained left hamstring. He leads MLS with 18 assists and had been involved in 10 goals (two goals and eight assists) in four games prior to the injury.
Pat Noonan, who had his first Crew goal against TFC, took Schelotto's spot up top and Stefani Miglioranzi was in for midfielder Brad Evans (groin strain) for the second consecutive match.
The Red Bulls were missing the six goals and three assists of midfielder Dave van den Bergh (sports hernia surgery), who had a goal in New York's 2-0 win against the Crew on April 5. He is expected to miss at least two games. Midfielder Seth Stammler returned to the starting lineup and defender Andrew Boyens got the nod over Wolyniec in the other departure from the first 11 during the 2-1 victory Sept. 13 vs. Real Salt Lake.
New York defender Gabriel Cichero had the first shot on goal -- a long-range strike -- in the fourth minute, but the Crew had the first quality try in the 11th when Gaven's attempt from the top left of the box was knocked away by Conway.
Both sides showed early flair and Red Bulls midfielder Dane Richards put on a burst to get past defender Danny O'Rourke deep down the right side in the 13th. Richards put a solid strike toward the middle of the goal but Will Hesmer was there to grab the ball.
It didn't take long for the Crew to respond with Gaven taking a volley from 16 yards that struck the right post.
Things got crazy for the Crew shortly thereafter en route to giving up the lead. First, Miglioranzi was forced to leave in the 20th minute with a leg injury after a collision near midfield. Then, as Emmanuel Ekpo was coming onto the field to replace him, O'Rourke had to temporarily leave because of a cut to his head. While he was off the field, Angel scored.
Trailing is nothing new for the Crew, who had the best record (3-6-4) when giving up the first goal. Columbus almost got the equalizer in the 25th when Rogers' service from the left flank found the head of Pat Noonan 10 yards off goal. But once again Conway was in position for his third save.
There was little positive after that for New York -- 1-7-5 on the road -- and matters went from bad to worse in the final minute when defender Kevin Goldthwaite was shown a red card for kicking Rogers in the calf.
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