Behind The Box Score

Trying to improve from the 2-2 tie last Sunday, Columbus (11-4-10) looks to step it up tomorrow against the always tough LA Galaxy in Crew Stadium at 7:30. The offense was lacking in the first half of the Chicago game, not scoring, and trailing 2-0 into half. They found some open space in the 2nd half, forcing the 2-2 tie. “I am happy we came back from being down 2-0, especially against a team that is right behind us in the standings. I think it was an important tie on the road and it almost felt like a win,” Robbie Rogers said of the Chicago game last Sunday.

The main talk this week has been shadowed around LA’s David Beckham, who is most likely not making the trip to Columbus due to ankle inflammation, a problem that they say he’s had all season. “It was a 50-50 thing coming. We decided to use better judgment and give him this game off. We really didn’t have a feel until about Tuesday in the fact that he is a question mark. [The inflammation] is something that David always has. I expect him to be back next week,” Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said of his midfielder. Last week, Beckham was the only scorer for LA in their 2-0 win over Toronto FC. The win against Toronto was much needed, since the previous week they had taken a 6-3 beating from FC Dallas, the most goals given up in club history.

The final five games of the season for the Crew are very important for retaining the top spot in the Eastern Conference over hard-charging Chicago. Columbus currently stands 3 points ahead of the Fire, and with a win tomorrow would give them possibly some more distance between them and Chicago. “Obviously it was an important game for us because [the Fire] are in second place and if we lose the game, we’ll be even in points. So it was important for us to stay ahead of them because it was a six-point swing,” head Coach Robert Warzycha said. “We are happy with the point and we were pushing for another goal but obviously, we are happy with the point.”