Surprising Columbus Tops Houston 1-0

The Columbus Crew beat defending MLS champion Houston Dynamo, 1-0.

The Columbus Crew (4-0-1) are now in first place in the Eastern conference after their win at home over Houston. With the win, the Crew passed Kansas City and New England for sole possession of first place. Columbus is off to their best start in 10 years.

In the 22nd minute Alejandro Moreno cleaned up rebound right in front of the net to give the Crew a 1-0 lead. A header was blocked and Moreno was in the right place at the right time to score the game’s only goal.

The win was the 100th career MLS win for Columbus head coach Sigi Schmid, who is only the second coach in the history of the MLS to pass the century marks for wins.

When asked about his milestone after the game Schmid said, “It just means that I have been around for a while. But really what it means is that I have had the privilege of coaching some good players. Players who have helped me achieve that. Obviously some guys have been out there for more of the wins, I am proud of that fact—but I am more proud of the fact that it shows that I have had some good players.”

Crew goalie William Hesmer stopped 6 shots for his eighth shutout of his career and second of the young season. The biggest save by Hesmer came in the 89th minute as Houston was pressing to even the score when Wade Barret sent a scorching shot on goal from 22 yards out, but Hesmer made a great two-handed diving save.

Both teams had several good chances in the game but neither team could find the back of the net. Most of the game was played in the mid-field.

Defending champion Houston (0-2-3) is not off a to a good start and has yet to win a game this season.

“You don’t expect to be 0-2-3," Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear said. "We are disappointed right now but I can’t say it’s because we aren’t playing good soccer. It’s just sometimes you get the breaks, and sometimes you do not. And we are getting punished for mistakes.

"We have to stick together and I know this group and we will bounce back. The pressure to win is within and the expectation is to win. Right now, things are not going the way we want.”

Houston’s next game is next Saturday at home against Chivas USA, while Columbus hosts Kansas City at home on Saturday in a big early season match up of two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.