<table> </table> COLUMBUS, Ohio | The Wizards&#8217; fast start faded further into memory Saturday night in breezy Columbus Crew Stadium. The first-place Crew blew by Kansas City in the first half and beat the Wizards 2-1.</p><p>Early goals by Adam Moffat and Robbie Rogers of Columbus and a red card shown to Wizards rookie Roger Espinoza doomed Kansas City to its third loss in five games. Claudio Lopez converted a penalty kick in the 79th minute, but the Wizards could not crack the Crew&#8217;s defense in the waning minutes.</p><p>&#8220;I thought we played well when we went down a man,&#8221; Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad said. &#8220;I thought we showed our mettle and could have come away with a tie tonight.&#8221;</p><p>Kansas City fell to 3-3-1 after a 2-0 start. Columbus, 5-1, remained atop the Eastern Conference.</p><p>The Crew scored in the fourth minute after a free kick by Guillermo Barros Schelotto. Schelotto sent a curving ball toward the back post, where 6-foot-4 defender Chad Marshall headed it into the goal. Moffat out-leaped two defenders to score his second goal of the season.</p><p>The early deficit stunned the Wizards, who weathered five more shots by a relentless Crew attack in the next eight minutes.</p><p>Alejandro Moreno was a menace to the Wizards&#8217; defense, and in the 34th minute sent a ball forward with a bicycle kick at midfield.</p><p>Crew winger Robbie Rogers tracked it down, drawing Hartman off his line. Rogers then poked the ball at the net and it trickled in, giving the Crew a 2-0 lead after what was only its second shot on goal.</p><p>Espinoza then made a costly mistake. He was shown a straight red card in the 36th minute for throwing a right arm to the face of Crew defender Frankie Hejduk during a challenge for a ball at midfield.</p><p>&#8220;We have a lot of young players on the team, so we are going to make those mistakes,&#8221; Wizards coach Curt Onalfo said. &#8220;We can live with that because we feel we are building a team for the future, a team that is not only going to be good in the future but darn good.&#8221;</p><p>Espinoza&#8217;s ejection forced the Wizards to play with 10 men, helping snuff out the modest comeback that started when Scott Sealy went down with panache after his jersey was tugged on by Crew defender Danny O&#8217;Rourke in the penalty area.</p><p>Lopez converted the ensuing penalty for his second goal of the season, but the Crew fended off every late attack by the Wizards.</p><p>&#8220;In the second half we took it to them,&#8221; Sealy said. &#8220;We created the most chances and got a penalty and got back into the game but weren&#8217;t able to get a second (goal). That&#8217;s how the game goes sometimes.&#8221;</p><p>Kansas City used a starting lineup without regulars Carlos Marinelli, Sasha Victorine, Kerry Zavagnin or Davy Arnaud.