Crew remains in good shape

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Sep 30, 2010

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] The Columbus Crew fell to Municipal, 2-1, on a pair of goals by former Los Angeles Galaxy forward Guillermo Ramirez, but the goal scored by Andy Iro put the MLS club in good shape to advance to the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions League.

The away goal gives the Crew the edge over Municipal in the tiebreaker, meaning that it will clinch a berth in the final eight if Municipal doesn't win at Santos of Mexico on Oct. 19.

If Municipal wins in Torreon, Columbus will need to win at Trinidad & Tobago's Joe Public two days later.

The Crew has nine points, one less than Santos, after five games. Municipal has eight.

In a match against Municipal played in a driving rain in Guatemala City, the Crew started only two players -- Eric Brunner and Iro -- who had started in Saturday's 2-2 tie with New England.

The D-2 Pro League's Puerto Rico Islanders came back from two goals down to beat Mexico's Toluca, 3-2, and move into first place in Group D.

Depending on the outcome of Honduran club Olimpia's game against El Salvador's on Thursday, the Islanders will either need to beat or tie Olimpia in Tegucigalpa on Oct. 20

Real Salt Lake became the first MLS team this season to qualify for the quarterfinals when it tied Toronto FC, 1-1.

Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders, 2-0 winners over Marathon on a pair of Michael Fucito goals on Wednesday, have been eliminated.

STANDINGS:
Group A
P TEAM W-T-L
10 Cruz Azul 3-1-1
10 Real Salt Lake 3-1-1
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5 FC Toronto 1-2-2
3 Arabe Unido 1-0-4

Group B
P TEAM W-T-L
10 Santos 3-1-1
9 Columbus Crew 3-0-2
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8 Municipal 2-2-1
1 Joe Public 0-1-4

Group C
P TEAM W-T-L
13 Monterrey 4-1-0
7 Saprissa 2-1-2
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6 Marathon 2-0-3
3 Seattle Sounders 1-0-4

Group D
P TEAM W-T-L
8 Puerto Rico Islanders 2-2-1
7 Toluca 2-1-2
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7 Olimpia 2-1-1
2 FAS 0-2-2

DAY 6:
October 19
Toronto FC vs. Arabe Unido
Santos vs. Municipal
Seattle Sounders vs. Saprissa
Real Salt Lake vs. Cruz Azul

October 20
Toluca vs. FAS
Marathon vs. Monterrey
Olimpia vs. Puerto Rico Islanders

October 21
Joe Public vs. Columbus Crew