Crew on top of their game
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The team atop Major League Soccer's standings didn't even make the playoffs last season. But the Columbus Crew are impressing this season with a 12-6-4 record. Their closest challenger is the Revolution (11-6-5), who take on the Crew tonight in Columbus.
With 40 points, the Crew already have surpassed the 37 they earned last season, when they finished 9-11-10 and out of the postseason.
One of the players the Revolution will have to mark closely is Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Major League Soccer's Player of the Month for August, during which he scored a goal and added six assists as the Crew went 3-1-0.
The Argentine, who joined the Crew last season, leads the league with 16 assists, the most for an MLS player since 2003.
Schelotto finds players on corner kicks and set pieces with precision, Revolution defender Jay Heaps said.
"He really picks guys out and kind of finds spaces, and it's going to be important for us to defend well," Heaps said.
Limiting goals will be important for the Revolution as they continue to wait for their contingent of strikers to get healthy.
Taylor Twellman made the trip and is expected to be available for tonight's game after sitting out Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League match against Joe Public FC, a 4-0 loss.
Twellman, the Revolution's all-time leading scorer, suffered a laceration under his right eye that required five stitches after he collided with Los Angeles goalkeeper Steve Cronin last Saturday. Twellman's stitches were removed Thursday.
The Revolution need Twellman, who has scored five goals in eight MLS matches this season. Forwards Kenny Mansally (ankle sprain) and Kheli Dube (adductor strain) continue to rehab. Adam Cristman underwent season-ending toe surgery Thursday.
Midfielder Steve Ralston also isn't available tonight as he continues to deal with back spasms. Ralston, with six goals and five assists, had been a consistent attacking threat.
"The defensive side is that much more important because, although Taylor has been pretty strong for us, we need to lock it down a little bit more in the back," Revolution midfielder Jeff Larentowicz said. "Everyone is aware of that and everyone wants to do that anyway. So with those guys gone, it's just an added level of concentration."
The Revolution have eight MLS games left on a schedule that included three in-season tournaments that resulted in 10 extra games. With the preliminary-round CONCACAF Champions League loss to Joe Public FC, the Revolution can focus on their quest to make it to and win the MLS Cup.
At least a share of the top league spot has belonged to the Revolution in 13 of the last 14 weeks, since a 1-0 win against the Crew May 24 pushed the Revolution into first. The Crew bring a 2-point lead into tonight's game.
This is the second of the teams' three meetings. The last will take place Sept. 27 at Gillette Stadium.
A familiar face on the Crew is Pat Noonan. The former Revolution midfielder/forward was traded to Columbus in August after spending the earlier part of the year with Aalesunds FK of the Norwegian Premier League.
With the Revolution back to playing one game a week, coach Steve Nicol hopes the team will get healthy and develop a training routine that had to be eliminated in recent weeks to accommodate tournament matches.
"In the next couple of weeks, we'll settle down, we'll play one game a week, which will be strange because we haven't done that for a while," Nicol said. "In the meantime, we'll rest up as much as we can and try to get ourselves back up strong and healthy. Once we do that, then we can win games."
Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com 