Chad Barrett scored in the third minute of stoppage time as the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated Columbus 1-0 Saturday to extend its unbeaten streak to six games while the Crew remained winless in five.
Landon Donovan, a second-half substitute, took a flighted ball from Omar Gonzalez on the right side of the penalty area and fired a hard shot that William Hesmer saved.
''Being opportunistic is pretty much what it comes down to,'' Barrett said. ''It was a header back in. I was running back from the previous attacking play. (Crew defender Julius) James just had a little mix up. Landon a great shot, put it on goal.''
The rebound came to Barrett, who entered in the 84th minute, and he put it in from the left side.
''Hesmer made a great save and it fell right to me at the back post,'' Barrett said. ''If I hadn't finished that I pretty much would have hated myself. I'm pretty happy.''
Earlier, Josh Saunders had made three key saves in the final six minutes to give the Western Conference-leading Galaxy (17-3-10) 16 shutouts, one shy of the league mark. They are 5-0-1 in six games.
The Crew (11-11-8) are 0-4-1 in the past five and trail Eastern Conference leader Houston by a point.
''We had chances. We didn't capitalize,'' Hesmer said. ''We came out and took it to them. We were going to go down swinging and we did, unfortunately.''
