Crew boosts playoff prospects with Orlando City draw

Fullback Marcelo Herrera scored his third goal and the Columbus Crew earned their best result in weeks with a 1-1 draw Saturday night at Orlando City.

Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte's error not long after Herrera's tally kept the Crew from halting a winless run that extended to four matches.

But it was still a promising performance from Columbus (13-8-12, 51 points) against a potential playoff opponent, even though it remained ninth in the Eastern Conference with the draw.

Crew leading scorer Diego Rossi also made his first appearance since suffering a hamstring injury in a 5-4 win Sept. 13 at Atlanta.

Marco Pasalic scored his 12th league goal for Orlando (14-7-11, 53 points), which saw a three-match home MLS winning streak snapped.

Pedro Gallese made six saves in a performance the Lions needed to extend a modest unbeaten run to four games, which includes three draws.

Columbus opened the scoring in the 32nd minute before Orlando responded only two minutes later.

For the Crew, Lassi Lappalainen got down the left, then appeared to catch Orlando's defense off guard by sending in a cross a few yards before he reached the byline.

It met Herrera making a clever run parallel to the goal line, and the Argentine dispatched a tidy first-time finish past the flailing Gallese, who had too little time to react.

The Lions pulled level essentially on their next trip into the Columbus end.

Luis Muriel took a speculative shot from outside the box that dipped as it reached Schulte, who spilled it forward.

Pasalic reacted to the error before the keeper could and capitalized for his first tally since he scored a consolation goal in a Leagues Cup semifinal defeat to Miami on Aug. 27.

Columbus had the better of the late chances.

Gallese made an enormous save with his trailing leg in the 83rd minute to deny Max Arfsten at point-blank range after Arfsten outmuscled Alex Freeman for a cross.

Three minutes later, Herrera and Darlington Nagbe combined to find Daniel Gazdag, who missed the target from an excellent position near the penalty spot.