New signing Thierry Henry watched from the stands as the New York Red Bulls lost 2-0 at Columbus on Saturday, giving the Crew a five-point lead atop Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference.
Fittingly for a former Arsenal player, Henry is expected to make his first New York appearance in a friendly against old north London rivals Tottenham on Thursday.
Emilio Renteria ended Columbus' 245-minute goalless drought and put the Crew ahead in the 20th minute on a counter following Brian Carroll stripping possession from Juan Pablo Angel in midfield.
Carroll later scored his first goal since 2008 in the 48th minute with a strike from 25 yards.
It was New York's first loss in six MLS games, against its main Conference rival.
In Frisco, Texas, Brek Shea scored one and set up another as Dallas ended Real Salt Lake's 10-game MLS unbeaten streak.
Shea scored in the 69th minute, on a rebound from Milton Rodriguez's shot, knocking the ball into the far corner from the top left of the box. Colombia's Rodriguez was making his Dallas debut.
It was the first goal conceded in 566 minutes by Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who had five straight clean sheets.
Atiba Harris made it 2-0 in the 77th minute.
Dallas is unbeaten in six games and closed the gap on Western Conference second-placed Salt Lake to five points.
In Commerce City, Colorado, Conor Casey scored in the 74th minute to salvage a home draw for Colorado against Kansas City.
Casey beat goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen with a left-footed shot from just outside the area for Colorado, whose winless skid reached five games. Casey has seven of Colorado's 17 goals this season.
Davy Arnaud scored in the 20th minute for Kansas City, which has gone seven games without a win in Colorado.
In Chester, Pennsylvania, Sebastien Le Toux converted a penalty deep in stoppage time to give Philadelphia a dramatic win over Toronto.
Maksim Usanov's handball led to Le Toux's goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time. He leads the Union with seven this season.
Toronto had looked like getting a share of the points when Chad Barrett scored in the 81st minute, 20 minutes after Michael Orozco Fiscal scored headed in a Le Toux corner to open the scoring.
It was the Canadians' first loss in nine games.
