Schelotto leads Columbus to win over RSL

Three points put Crew into first-place tie with New England

Real Salt Lake's Kyle Beckerman keeps the ball away from the Crew's Eddie Gaven during the second half. (LaPrete/AP)

Defender Chad Marshall and midfielder Brad Evans also scored for the Crew while Will Hesmer had two saves for his sixth shutout.

The win enabled Columbus to equal the 37 points it had in 30 matches last season. Real Salt Lake have lost two consecutive games in falling out of the top spot in the Western Conference.

The Crew took a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute thanks once again to the crossing ability of Schelotto. After drawing a foul from defender Robbie Russell 25 yards to the left of goal, Schelotto sent a pinpoint free kick to the far post.

Finding the 6-foot-4 Marshall, who got behind Kenny Deuchar, the center back headed past goalkeeper Nick Rimando for the initial score. Marshall has a career-high three goals after scoring four in the previous four seasons.

It was an important goal because the Crew moved to 9-0 when scoring first.

Schelotto then converted his fourth penalty kick in as many tries this season to double the lead 10 minutes later. After midfielder Eddie Gaven was taken down by a block from defender Nat Borchers as he tried to cut back on the right side of the box, referee Terry Vaughn pointed to the spot. Schelotto laced a shot from the spot to the lower right corner, giving Rimando no chance to make a save for his fifth goal of the season.

It was Schelotto striking again in the 55th minute with a leading pass down the right flank to Gaven. After several dribbles, Gaven sent a cross to the penalty spot for Evans for a crisp header and his fourth goal of the year and second in as many games.

Hesmer had a quiet game until making his first save in the 71st minute on Andy Williams. Hesmer also made a diving stop to his right on by Russell in the 76th.

The matchup featured teams with performances better than their pedigree. Columbus has not made the MLS Cup Playoffs since 2004 but started the week with the most points in the league and atop the Eastern Conference before midweek wins by New England and Chicago dropped the Crew to third in the conference and also in the overall table.

Salt Lake entered play second in the West, five points behind two-time defending champion Houston in a bid to qualify for the postseason for the first time in its four-year history.

Each side had their recent high-profile acquisitions on the bench at the start. Midfielder Pat Noonan made his Crew debut by starting and going 58 minutes Aug. 16 against FC Dallas. He spent the previous six months in Norway after five seasons with New England.

He was replaced in the opening lineup by Robbie Rogers in his first start since rejoining the team after playing for the United States in the Olympics. Rogers played 32 minutes against Dallas upon his return from China.

Forward Clint Mathis joined Real Salt Lake for as a second go-round two weeks ago after his MLS rights were obtained from the Los Angeles Galaxy. He had been playing for Ergotelis FC of the Greek SuperLeague. Mathis, who had three goals and four assists in 27 games during Salt Lake's inaugural 2005 season, played the final 30 minutes at Houston on Aug. 16.

Noonan entered for Schelotto in the 63rd while Mathis came on for Kenny Cutler in the 72nd.

Meanwhile, Salt Lake was without forward Will Johnson, who was acquired Friday from Chicago for SuperDraft picks in 2009 and 2011. He spent the past three years playing in the Netherlands. Prior to that, he had one goal in six games for Chicago in 2005.

Salt Lake has been stellar at home where it has compiled a 6-0-5 record on artificial turf, outscoring the visitors 18-7. The Crew were a 2-0 loser in Rice-Eccles Stadium on July 12.

Away matches have been a different story. RSL is 1-8-1 and scored seven times while allowing 20. The club has an all-time mark is of 7-38-11 on the road. Saturday started a stretch where RSL will play six of eight on the road.

Defender Frankie Hejduk and forward Alejandro Moreno were in the starting XI for the Crew after playing for the U.S. and Venezuelan national teams, respectively, on Wednesday. However, midfielder Emmanuel Ekpo missed his fourth match while helping Nigeria to an Olympic silver medal Saturday against Argentina in Beijing.

Craig Merz is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.

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