The Columbus Crew defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 on Wednesday night at Crew Stadium.

After finding difficulty gaining wins early in the season, the Crew has won two of its last three games, including two in a row at their home grounds. The victory improves the team’s record to 2-2-6 and puts them six points behind the Eastern Conference-leading Chicago Fire.

San Jose opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when Ryan Johnson scored a questionable goal, provoking complaints from the Crew. A service in the middle appeared to go off of Quincy Amarikwa’s shoulder, and Johnson was there to tap the ball in and put the Earthquakes up 1-0.

The Crew responded quickly. After a lengthy corner kick by Gino Padula, Eric Brunner set up Eddie Gaven for a header, which tied the match at 1-1.

The Crew went in front for good just 28 seconds into the second half. After a setup by Emmanuel Ekpo, Guillermo Barros Schelotto scored his sixth goal of the season, which puts him in a five-way tie for first in Major League Soccer.

The Crew will head to Seattle for a date with its former coach Sigi Schmid on Saturday.

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All photos ©AmericanSoccerNews.net, Taylor Birkos.

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Match Facts

San Jose Earthquakes at Columbus Crew, Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Scoring Summary:
SJ — Ryan Johnson 5 (Quincy Amarikwa 1, Eric Denton 1) 23
CLB — Eddie Gaven 2 (Eric Brunner 1, Gino Padula 2) 29
CLB — Guillermo Barros Schelotto 6 (Emmanuel Ekpo 3, Alejandro Moreno 1) 46

Lineups:
San Jose Earthquakes — Joe Cannon, Kelly Gray, Nick Garcia, Jason Hernandez, Eric Denton (Cornell Glen 68), Shea Salinas (Arturo Alvarez 75), Ramiro Corrales, Simon Elliott, Bobby Convey, Quincy Amarikwa (Cam Weaver 83), Ryan Johnson.
Substitutes Not Used: Pablo Campos, Brandon McDonald, Aaron Pitchkolan, Andrew Weber

Columbus Crew — Andy Gruenebaum, Jed Zayner, Eric Brunner, Chad Marshall, Gino Padula, Emmanuel Ekpo (Steven Lenhart 58), Brian Carroll (Kevin Burns 69), Eddie Gaven, Robbie Rogers, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Alejandro Moreno.
Substitutes Not Used: Alec Dufty, Jason Garey, Alex Grendi, Pat Noonan, Duncan Oughton