they are a good team but we won the series."
• The latest version of United's "Magic Triangle" - now consisting of Jaime Moreno, Luciano Emilio and Christian Gomez - combined for both goals against Chivas. Evocative of the originally named trio of Moreno, Raul Diaz Arce and Marco Etcheverry in the early years of the club, of Emilio's goals, Gomez has assisted on three and Moreno two.
• "Jaime (Moreno) and Christian (Gomez) and I have worked on a lot of give and go plays, and we're always looking for each other," said Emilio. "That's helped me score a lot of goals."
• Said Soehn: "It's more than just Luciano. Luciano is the beneficiary of a lot of good players around him. He creates a lot of opportunities, he is opportunistic. When he gets a chance he finishes it off. You name it -- he's got a lot of supporting cast."
• But United were still left rueing a chance to take the full three points, which they felt started with Razov's fortunate deflection. "We stopped for a little bit. We've got to do a better job in killing off a game; keeping the ball and making them work to find it and be a little smarter with and without the ball," Perkins said.
• Said Bobby Boswell: "If we don't give that goal up, their heads are down going into the locker room. Every goal is important, especially later in the season against better teams. We've got to learn from it and move on."
• In the end, there was nothing to separate the two teams who are perhaps playing the best soccer in the league right now. Perkins saw definite similarities between the squads. "At home, they press really well," he said."They play with a lot of energy and passion at home and that's always tough to play against. It's the same as we are at home."
• United saw their six-game winning streak come to an end - which matched the season-high from a year ago when they also won the Supporters' Shield - but still took a point which pushed them to the top of the MLS overall standings. "They actually brought the game to us pretty well, but you expect that on the road," said Boswell. "We can't get down about it; we got a point on the road, so it's not the end of the world."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution won back-to-back games for just the second time since May, a late own goal giving them a 2-1 victory against the New York Red Bulls in their last game, Aug. 25 at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution have 42 points from 23 games, now one point behind D.C. United both in the Eastern Conference race and the battle for the Supporters' Shield.
LAST MATCH
• The Revolution had alternated 3-0 losses with 1-0 victories in their last four games while staying atop the East, while the Red Bulls had allowed seven goals in two games, seeing a two-game winning streak snapped when they started their road trip at midweek with a 3-1 loss to D.C. United.
• Sharlie Joseph was given a glorious opportunity to put the Revolution ahead in the 19th minute when Adam Cristman was pulled back in the box and referee Baldomero Toledo awarded a penalty kick. But Joseph flashed his effort outside of the left-hand post.
• The Red Bulls took advantage of the opening to score the first goal on the half-hour mark. Jozy Altidore took the ball in midfield and played it forward to Juan Pablo Angel, who laid a sublime pass back into Altidore's path as he raced in free behind the New England defense. Then from the top of the area, Altidore flicked a low shot with the outside of his foot past Matt Reis for his eighth goal on the season.
• Yet just seconds after the second-half restart, the Revs pulled level. A long punt from Matt Reis sailed over the Red Bulls back four and Taylor Twellman controlled it with yards of space around him, strolling into the box before slotting home for his 11th goal, third in four games.
• Then a grievous error 10 minutes from the end gave the Revolution the win. Carlos Mendes slid over to claim the ball on the left touchline, some 40 yards from goal, and turned and knocked a long back pass toward his own goal. But goalkeeper Jon Conway misjudged the ball and saw it skip past him inside the far corner.
• Revolution head coach Steve Nicol made two changes to the team that defeated the Kansas City Wizards 1-0 in their previous game. Jay Heaps was forced off at halftime of that game, and James Riley again replaced him in the first XI. But Steve Ralston was again available after a bout with the flu, and he came in for Wells Thompson in a wide midfield role.
• Here's Nicol's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Reis - Avery John, Michael Parkhurst, James Riley - Steve Ralston, Jeff Larentowicz, Shalrie Joseph, Khano Smith (Wells Thompson 60) - Andy Dorman - Taylor Twellman, Adam Cristman. Substitutes Not Used: Gary Flood, Kyle Helton, Amaechi Igwe, Marshall Leonard, Chris Loftus, Doug Warren
• "I am kind of divided to be honest. I think that we made some chances but I don't think we particularly controlled the game -- not that they did either. It was a wee bit scrappy out there, to be fair," Nicol said. "But it is getting to that time of the year where it is points that matter more than anything else and we got three tonight. We would have liked to have been a lot more fluid, but we won and got three points. An unusual way to get it, but we'll take it."
TEAM NEWS
• The Revolution could have found themselves behind by more, but not through a lack of effort, Nicol said.
• "The effort was there. I don't think that we started particularly well. The first 10 minutes we didn't do much. (Matt) Reis made two pretty huge saves tonight," Nicol said. "A few weeks ago, we were talking about the mistake that he made at D.C., and one of the reasons why we don't lambaste him for that is because of what you see tonight, as well. He is going to come up strong for you more times than he is not."
• The Revolution had begun the month of August with their only previous consecutive wins, defeating Kansas City after a win against Real Salt Lake.
• "We knew going in it was going to be tough. That's a lot of games to play and a lot of traveling thrown in there, as well," Parkhurst said. "But we're happy with that eight-game stretch. We had a couple real poor performances that we weren't pleased with, but we seemed to bounce back every time after a bad loss like that. It was good to follow up last weekend's victory with this weekend's victory and go into our break on a high note."
• The Revolution have become known for their late-season charges, and while one won't likely be needed to earn a playoff berth this year, the club would still like to go flying into the postseason. A year ago, the Revolution went unbeaten over their final seven regular season games, winning their last three, on the way to an eventual MLS Cup Final appearance.
• "The way we've been lately is we've had one good game and one horrible game. We want to be able to put together a run of good quality soccer, and I think a couple years ago we did that," Steve Ralston said. "... I think there's been some really bright spots, but also a few too many of those hiccups so far. We have to get more consistent."
• On Tuesday, the Revolution reached the U.S. Open Cup Final for the second time in club history, defeating the USL First Division's Carolina RailHawks 2-1 in extra time in New Britain, Conn.
• Anthony Maher gave Carolina the lead on six minutes with a side-foot finish to the right side of Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis. After Shalrie Joseph and Connolly Edozien saw red after a 42nd-minute confrontation, New England drew level in first-half stoppage time through Jeff Larentowicz. Neither side broke the deadlock in the second half, forcing the match into extra time with New England up a man after David Stokes was dismissed for hauling down Adam Cristman on his way to goal 10 minutes from time. Pat Noonan, who had seen shots go off the post twice on the night, fired the Revolution ahead three minutes into extra time against the nine-man RailHawks to secure the victory.
• Gambian under-20 international Sainey Nyassi made his debut on the evening and made the run that started the move that led to Noonan's goal. Nyassi, along with Abdoulie Mansally, have been added to the Revolution squad. Both were members of the Gambian team in the FIFA U-20 World Cup. "He had a part in the second goal," Nicol said of Nyassi. "He's got some ability. He showed tonight that he's got some talent."
• Here's Nicol's team: Matt Reis, Avery John (Sainey Nyassi 91), Michael Parkhurst, James Riley, Khano Smith, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Steve Ralston, Andy Dorman, Adam Cristman, Pat Noonan (Chris Loftus 106). Substitutes Not Used: Doug Warren, Amaechi Igwe, Gary Flood, Kyle Helton, Bryan Byrne
• The Revolution will now head, once again, to Pizza Hut Park, to try and win a first trophy in club history, when they take on FC Dallas in the Open Cup Final on Wed., Oct. 3.
