Columbus and Chicago Battle for Third Tie of Season

• MLSnet.com, Monday, September 21, 2009 4:15 PM

The Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew can't shake one another. In three games this season, they have played to three ties. The first time, Chicago fought back. The second ended in a scoreless draw. And on Sunday, the Crew fought back from two goals down.

A pair of Peter Lowry goals put the Fire up 2-0 in the first half. But an aggressive second-half performance showed why the Crew is still first place in the East. "I told the guys we're the best team in the league for a reason," Crew coach Robert Warzycha said. "We showed that in the second half. We scored two goals. We were pushing for another goal. It was obviously an important game for us. They're in second place. If we lost the game, they'd be even with us."

The Crew's prized attacker, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, netted two second-half goals. He headed in a cross from Robbie Rogers in the 53rd minute and then converted a penalty with 11 minutes left after William Conde and Crew forward Steven Lenhart collided in the box. "These games are always tight," Scheletto said. That is reflected on the scores from all three games played against them this season. It is a nice rivalry and maybe we'll meet again in the postseason."

 

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