Columbus Crew were held to a 2-2 draw by Houston Dynamo at Crew Stadium in midweek MLS action on Wednesday night.
Crew midfielder Emmanuel Ekpo was shown a straight red card in just the 11th minute for a push to the face on Dynamo's Adam Moffat and the visitors took advantage of the extra numbers when Je-Vaughn Watson headed home in the 34th minute.
Against the run of play, Crew's Andres Mendoza leveled from the penalty spot in the 64th minute when he sent Tally Hall the wrong way after Cam Weaver was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area.
Eight minutes later, the home side were awarded another spot-kick when Dynamo scorer Watson fouled Dilly Duka in the box and Mendoza stepped up to send Hall the other way and give his side an unlikely lead.
But thankfully for the Dynamo, former Chicago Fire forward Calen Carr picked a good time to score his first Dynamo goal with a fierce finish from Geoff Cameron's 86th cut-back pass.
Despite the draw, the Crew remained at the top of the Eastern Conference table as Houston remained fourth.
