Columbus continued their early season mastery with a victory over East rivals Kansas City, while David Beckham single-booted-ly lifted Los Angeles into a draw at Real Salt Lake.

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CREW RETAIN TOP SPOT
The Columbus Crew held serve at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, winning their fifth game in six outings.

First half goals from Adam Moffat and Robbie Rogers highlighted a workman-like 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Wizards Saturday night at Crew Stadium.

Moffat scored only four minutes into the contest after Tyson Wahl fouled Guillermo Barros Schelotto, setting up a dangerous free kick that eventually found its way to the Scot. Schelotto's service to the back post was headed back towards the goalmouth by Chad Marshall, and Moffat rose above two Kansas City defenders to muscle the ball pass Kevin Hartman.

The Crew continued pushing forward and the tireless Alejandro Moreno narrowly missed adding to his Eastern Conference leading goal tally in the 28th minute. Schelotto led the Venezuelan in on goal with a deft flick, but Moreno couldn't summon the pace necessary to beat Hartman to the ball. 

Moreno would help create Columbus' second goal only six minutes later. Moreno's audacious bicycle kick sent Rogers chasing rookie Chance Myers, but Myers failed to communicate with Hartman and was unable to guide the ball to his keeper.

Rogers sensed the confusion, beat both to the ball and was able to roll it into an empty net to score his third goal of the young season.

The game took an ugly turn in the 36th minute when Wizard's rookie Roger Espinoza received a straight red card for a forearm blow to veteran Frankie Hejduk's neck.

Despite playing with 10 men, Kansas City pulled one back in the 79th minute after substitute Scott Sealy went to ground in the box. Claudio Lopez took the ensuing penalty kick and drove it down the middle past a sprawled Will Hesmer, but the comeback wasn't to be for the Wizards.

The loss drops Kansas City to 3-3-1 on the season. The Wizards will get this week off before traveling to Giants Stadium to face the New York Red Bulls on May 17th. Columbus moves to a Major League Soccer best 5-1-0 and will travel to San Jose to take on the Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium on Saturday.

Scoring
CLB - Adam Moffat 2 (Chad Marshall, Guillermo Barros Schelotto) 4'
CLB - Robbie Rogers 3 (Alejandro Moreno, Frankie Hejduk) 34'
KC - Claudio Lopez 2 (PK) 79'

Line-ups
KC - Kevin Hartman; Chance Myers, Jimmy Conrad, Tyson Wahl, Michael Harrington, Jack Jewsbury, Eloy Colombano (Ryan Pore 74'), Kurt Morsink (Carlos Marinelli 61'), Roger Espinoza, Ivan Trujillo (Scott Sealy 46'), Claudio Lopez

CLB - William Hesmer; Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall, Danny O'Rourke, Ezra Hendrickson, Robbie Rogers, Brian Carroll, Adam Moffat (Emmanuel Ekpo 54'), Eddie Gaven (Brad Evans 73'), Alejandro Moreno, Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Nicolas Hernandez 86')

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GOATS HOLD DYNAMO IN HOUSTON
Chivas USA and the Houston Dynamo, last season's Western Conference powers, faced off Saturday night at Robertson Stadium for a scoreless draw that ensured both squads remained near the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

The two teams combined to play a rough game as Chivas looked to disrupt the Dynamo by stopping play, while making little effort to go forward themselves.

Argentine forward Franco Caraccio started things early for the Dynamo, but his low cross was sent out for a corner by Shavar Thomas in the fourth minute. Houston threatened again through Caraccio's service in the ninth minute, but Dwayne De Rosario's attempted bicycle kick backfired when he struck Lawson Vaughn in the face, forcing the defender to leave the game.

Houston continued to dominate the run of play, but the Goats narrowly missed their best chance in the 17th minute when Maykel Galindo sent his shot just wide of the far post.

With frustrations mounting for both sides, Houston began creating chances but couldn't capitalize as Ricardo Clark sent a header just wide and De Rosario sent a shot whizzing just past Brad Guzan's far post.

The game began unraveling for Chivas USA in the 82nd minute when Claudio Suarez was sent off for bringing Brian Mullan to the ground just outside the penalty area.

Suarez's ejection meant the Goats finished with only one starting defender on the field as Vaughn and Thomas were both forced to leave with injuries, but neither team could muster a go-ahead goal.

The Dynamo created a few more opportunities but Guzan showed why he was last season's Goalkeeper of the Year by denying Corey Ashe from close range in the 89th minute.

After the scoreless tie, Chivas has only one victory through six games while Houston remains winless. Both will get chances to capture an elusive three points next weekend as Chivas hosts New England and the Dynamo host Colorado.

Line-ups
CHV - Brad Guzan; Lawson Vaughn (Chris Pozniak 13'), Claudio Suarez, Shavar Thomas (Jim Curtin 62'), Jonathan Bornstein, Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura, Francisco Mendoza, Maykel Galindo, Ante Razov (Justin Braun 78')

HOU - Pat Onstad; Richard Mulrooney, Bobby Boswell, Patrick Ianni, Wade Barrett, Stuart Holden (Corey Ashe 81'), Ricardo Clark, Dwayne De Rosario, Brian Mullan, Franco Caraccio (Geoff Cameron 62'), Brian Ching

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RED BULLS RALLY AT BMO
The New York Red Bulls salvaged a 1-1 draw after Dave van den Bergh's free kick canceled out Marco Velez's early goal.

Despite squandering their 1-0 advantage, Toronto FC continued to show improvement in its second season in MLS. Frenchman Laurent Robert created TFC's opener as the former Newcastle man caught New York napping, sending a perfect ball to the unmarked Velez's head.

The Red Bulls equalizer would come off a dead ball situation as well. After TFC handled the ball about 20 yards from goal, the Dutchman sent a superb low bending shot around the wall and into the corner of Greg Sutton's net.

Although New York partnered Jozy Altidore and Juan Pablo Angel up top for the first time this year, neither team could break down their opponents back line.

Altidore showed off his powerful right foot just after halftime, but his half volley was well over the crossbar. The young forward very nearly created a goal in the 78th minute when his ball through the six yard box eluding an oncoming Dane Richards.

Angel probably should have sent New York ahead a minute later when Hunter Freeman's looping cross found him at Sutton's back post, but the Columbian's header was far off the mark and TFC cleared their lines.

Toronto almost stole the three points in stoppage time as the Red Bulls shanked a clearance. The ball fell directly to former MetroStar Amado Guevara, but his volley was directly at goalkeeper Jon Conway.

Toronto gets a week off to recuperate, and the Reds will look to build on their fast start when they host the Columbus Crew May 17th. New York will travel to Carson, Calif., to face Landon Donovan, David Beckham and the LA Galaxy Saturday on HDNet.

Scoring
TFC - Marco Velez 1 (Laurent Robert) 22'
NYRB - Dave van den Bergh 2 39'

Line-ups
NYRB - Jon Conway; Kevin Goldthwaite, Jeff Parke, Hunter Freeman, Danleigh Borman (Dane Richards 55'), Mike Magee, Claudio Reyna (Sinisa Ubiparipovic 46'), Seth Stammler, Dave van den Bergh, Jozy Altidore (John Wolyniec 91+'), Juan Pablo Angel

TFC - Greg Sutton; Marvell Wynne, Tyrone Marshall, Marco Velez, Jim Brennan, Rohan Ricketts (Jarrod Smith 74'), Maurice Edu, Carl Robinson, Laurent Robert, Amado Guevara, Danny Dichio (Jeff Cunningham 83')

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NEW ENGLAND GUTTED BY FIRE
The New England Revolution continued their up and down season suffering a huge 3-0 home loss against the Chicago Fire.

Chris Rolfe put the away side into the lead in the 29th minute after a John Thorrington's pass caught the Revs defense  out of stance.

After the opener, New England reacted, but didn't create valuable scoring chances.

In the second half, Thorrington doubled past a diving Matt Reis with a slow shot from outside the box.

Chicago's third came in the 76th minute thanks to Stephen King, who beat Reis to a loose rebound.

Jon Busch posted a shutout for a Fire defense which conceded just three goals in six games to be the best backline in the league.

The Revs are now 3-3-1 in this troubled start to the season, while Chicago stand second in the East.

Scoring
CHI - Chris Rolfe 1 (John Thorrington) 29'
CHI - John Thorrington 3 (Chad Barrett, Chris Rolfe) 50'
CHI - Stephen King 1 76'

Line-ups
CHI - Jon Busch; Brandon Prideaux, Bakary Soumare, Diego Gutierrez, Gonzalo Segares, John Thorrington, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Logan Pause, Justin Mapp (Daniel Woolard 78'), Chris Rolfe (Stephen King 69'), Chad Barrett (Andy Herron 83')

NE - Matt Reis; Jay Heaps, Chris Albright, Michael Parkhurst, Wells Thompson, Mauricio Castro, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Khano Smith (Steve Ralston 54'), Kenny Mansally (Argenis Fernandez 74'), Adam Cristman (Kheli Dube 55')

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RAPIDS KEEP UNITED REELING
DC United, at one time considered an MLS Cup contender, is now a struggling team after suffering a 2-0 loss against the Colorado Rapids.

United's back line was in troubles all the match and Colorado's forwards had many chances to grab the lead in the first half.

he Rapids dominated from the start as former United trigger man Christian Gomez was outstanding and the visitors weren't able to cover him.

Jacob Peterson opened the scoring in the 53rd minute with a powerful shot from just outside the box to beat Zach Wells. 

His first goal of the season may well have ended the match since United weren't able to reply, but Facundo Erpen added a second in the 72nd minute, after some confusion in United's box. 

United's defense has now allowed 12 goals in 6 matches ahead of Thursday's trip to Chicago.

Scoring
COL - Jacob Peterson 1 (Christian Gomez) 53'
COL - Facundo Erpen 1 (Terry Cooke, Christian Gomez) 72'

Line-ups
DCU - Zach Wells; Bryan Namoff, Marc Burch, Gonzalo Martinez, Gonzalo Peralta, Santino Quaranta (Quavas Kirk 61'), Rod Dyachenko, Clyde Simms, Marcelo Gallardo, Luciano Emilio (Francis Doe 59'), Franco Niell (Jaime Moreno 46')

COL - Bouna Coundoul; Facundo Erpen, Jordan Harvey, Ugo Ihemelu, Kosuke Kimura, Nick LaBrocca, Christian Gomez (Colin Clark 74'), Pablo Mastroeni, Jacob Peterson (Terry Cooke 71'), Omar Cummings (Herculez Gomez 61'), Tom McManus

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BECKHAM BOOTS LA TO DRAW
With his team two goals behind early, star midfielder David Beckham proved his class, smashing home two times before the break to give the Los Angeles Galaxy a 2-2 tie at Real Salt Lake.

In the University of Utah football stadium, Real Salt Lake forward Fabian Espindola bested Galaxy netminder Steve Cronin in a one-to-one situation after being picked out by a Javier Morales pass after just six minutes of action.

The Galaxy defense was under big pressure for the whole first half and Cronin conceded the doubler in the 18th minute as Morales sent another assist to Kenny Deuchar, who jumped over Greg Vanney to beat the Los Angeles goalkeeper.

The match was hardly over, not with the English international around. In the 36th minute, Beckham halved the handicap with an accurate shot from about 20-yards, and just four minutes later, scored again thanks to a blistering long free kick, his specialty.

Some minutes later, Deuchar had the chance to put the home side ahead again, but his goal was nullified for an offside flag.

In the second half, both teams had many chances to win. Beckham attempted to spur this team to the three points, but Alan Gordon missed a couple of good chances and the score remained tied. 

Scoring
RSL - Fabian Espindola 2 (Javier Morales) 6'
RSL - Kenny Deuchar 2 (Javier Morales) 18'
LA - David Beckham 2 (Alan Gordon, Landon Donovan) 36'
LA - David Beckham 3 40'

Line-ups
LA - Steve Cronin; Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Greg Vanney, Troy Roberts, David Beckham, Joe Franchino, Brandon McDonald, Mike Randolph, Edson Buddle (Alan Gordon 12'), Landon Donovan

RSL - Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran (Robbie Findley 74'), Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert, Andy Williams (Matias Cordoba 90'), Dema Kovalenko, Javier Morales, Kyle Beckerman, Kenny Deuchar, Fabian Espindola (Yura Movsisyan 79')