Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - Guillermo Barros Schelotto scored and added his league-leading 13th and 14th assists to lift the Columbus Crew to a 3-0 victory over Real Salt Lake and into a first-place tie in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference on Saturday.

"What we are most happy about is we have seven wins at home and we've got 37 points in 21 games, which is what had all last season in 30 [games]," Crew coach Sigi Schmid said.

Schelotto, who played just 63 minutes, converted a penalty kick for his fifth goal of the year and assisted on goals by Chad Marshall and Brad Evans at Crew Stadium.

Columbus (11-6-4) moved level in points for first with New England, which tied Toronto FC 1-1 on Saturday night.

Real Salt Lake (7-8-6), which lost the top spot in the Western Conference last week after a 4-3 loss to the Houston Dynamo, slipped below .500. Houston is the only team in the West with a winning record.

Schelotto set up the first goal 15 minutes into the match with a cross from the left side. Marshall ran onto the ball at the far post and headed in his third goal of the season from about five yards out.

"I know he's [Schelotto] looking for me in the box and he served in a great ball," Marshall said. "I saw earlier that it was going to go far post so I faked inside then went back and it was a perfect ball; it was a pretty easy finish."

The Crew extended their lead in the 25th minute when Real's Nate Borcher fouled Eddie Gaven in the penalty area and Schelotto converted from the spot.

Evans sealed Columbus' win, its third in its last four matches, with his fourth goal of the year in the 55th minute. Gaven and Schelotto each picked up assists on the goal.

"When we were in Salt Lake, they threw everything they had at us from the get- go, so I guess it was our turn to throw everything that we had at them from the get-go and we turned them around early and we got a few chances, finished our chances and thats all you can ask for," Evans said.

Columbus and New England hold a two-point cushion over Chicago in the East. The Crew will try to move ahead of New England on Aug. 30 when they visit Dallas.

Real Salt Lake, which lost two straight for the first time since May, is still second but trails Houston by seven points. RSL will try to rebound on Friday in Utah against the Colorado Rapids.