Coach Sigi Schmid wasn't happy after the game tonight. And he apparently expressed that to his team far longer than usual tonight, as he didn't come into the media room for about 25 minutes after the game. About twice as long as usual.

When he arrived, he made it clear that he thought some of his players became more interested in complaining to the referee than playing the game.

"I was disappointed in terms of our team’s focus at times," he said. "I thought we got overly concerned about the referee and weren’t concerned enough about our play. I’m a big believer that you’ve got so much energy to expend over 90 minutes and if you expend a lot of energy dealing with the referee, you’re not going to have that energy to deal with the game. And that was the thing that we just talked about.”

As for that late red card on Tyrone Marshall, that was due to the referee's assistant seeing Marshall throw a punch. And after the game, Marshall didn't exactly deny that.

"The referee said I punched a guy, the striker," Marshall said. "When that happens, you always see the what happened afterward, and not what happened before. He was coming in being very aggressive, I think he ran into me with his elbow, and being the competitor that I am, I’m not going to take that. ... I mean punch thrown or not, I think it was one of those games that was really scrappy and things were going on, so if they want to call a red card and give me a red card and not the other guy, I don’t think that’s fair. If he’s going to give a red card, I think both persons have to get a red card."

We know the drill by now: Marshall will miss next week's game. And it happens to be a big one at conference-leading Chivas USA.

Here's the game report:

Scoring Summary:
CLB -- Alejandro Moreno 2 (Pat Noonan 1, Jed Zayner 1) 12
SEA -- Nate Jaqua 3 (Freddie Ljungberg 2) 58

Columbus Crew -- Andy Gruenebaum, Jed Zayner, Eric Brunner, Chad Marshall, Gino Padula, Emmanuel Ekpo (Steven Lenhart 80), Eddie Gaven, Danny O'Rourke (Duncan Oughton 89), Robbie Rogers, Pat Noonan (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 69), Alejandro Moreno.

Substitutes Not Used: Kevin Burns, Jason Garey, Alex Grendi, Alec Duffy.

TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (3 tied with 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (5 tied with 1); FOULS: 22 (Emmanuel Ekpo 4, Jed Zayner 4); OFFSIDES: 2 (Guillermo Barros Schelotto 1, Pat Noonan 1); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Eddie Gaven 2); SAVES: 1 (Andy Gruenebaum 1)

Seattle Sounders FC -- Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyrone Marshall, Tyson Wahl, Brad Evans, Freddie Ljungberg, Peter Vagenas (Patrick Ianni 64), Steve Zakuani, Fredy Montero (Nathan Sturgis 89), Nate Jaqua (Sebastien Le Toux 83).

Substitutes Not Used: Stephen King, Roger Levesque, Sanna Nyassi, Ben Dragovan.

TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Fredy Montero 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Nate Jaqua 1, Fredy Montero 1); FOULS: 14 (Jhon Kennedy Hurtado 3); OFFSIDES: 3 (Nate Jaqua 2); CORNER KICKS: 7 (Freddie Ljungberg 7); SAVES: 4 (Kasey Keller 4)

Misconduct Summary:
SEA -- Peter Vagenas (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 37
SEA -- Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution; Dissent) 68
CLB -- Guillermo Barros Schelotto (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 73
CLB – Emmanuel Ekpo (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 73
SEA -- Freddie Ljungberg (caution; Dissent) 89
SEA -- Tyrone Marshall (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 92+

Referee: Michael Kennedy
Referee's Assistants: -Emiliano Monje; David Bragg
4th Official: Alejandro Mariscal
Attendance: 29,126
Time of Game: 1:54
Weather: Sunny-and-72-degrees

This was the Sounders' fifth straight draw drops them into third place in the Western Conference, now behind Chivas and Houston. It also drops them in history behind the 1998 Chicago Fire, whose 6-5 start now ranks as the best by an MLS expansion team after 11 games.

=> Read more!

Here's my preview story from today's paper. And here's the Crew coverage from the Columbus Dispatch.

And though Sigi Schmid's Columbus connection makes for an interesting sidelight, the real importance seems to be that the Sounders are back home against a struggling team and they see this as a chance for three points and anything else will be a disappointment.

Especially because Chivas USA's late and controversial loss to Chicago on Thursday really created an opportunity for the Sounders. Seattle will kick off tonight eight points behind Chivas -- 24 points to 16 -- in the Western Conference standings. However, the Sounders now fully control their own destiny to shaving off six of those points with a win tonight and then a win in their head-to-head battle at Chivas a week from tonight.

Schmid acknowledged the opportunity this week. But, of course, it all starts with taking care of business tonight.

The game is sold out, but will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel and FSE.