Clint Dempsey hit for the first multi-goal game of his career as the New England Revolution put together back-to-back wins for just the second time this season, with a 3-2 victory against the New York Red Bulls.
The home side never trailed against New York, but was twice pegged back by its spirited opponent, which will consider itself a little unfortunate to come away from Gillette Stadium with nothing.
Dempsey was the happy recipient of a fortunate deflection in the sixth minute to put New England ahead, but Edson Buddle leveled in the 24th minute. After a Taylor Twellman header put the Revolution back in front just before the interval, Mike Magee again pegged the Red Bulls back in the 66th minute. Just six minutes later, though, Dempsey's second gave the home side the lead for good.
The Revolution got off to the perfect start in the sixth minute, when Andy Dorman, who had already seen a cross from the right strike Tony Meola's near post, whipped in another ball from the touchline that defender Jeff Parke, under no pressure, swung his left foot at. The ball ricocheted across the six-yard box and struck Dempsey on the shin and slid past the helpless Meola. The shrug of the shoulders from the Texan was a fitting celebration for the bizarre goal.
The early lead bred confidence in the home side, which looked set for a comfortable night against a Red Bulls side that was without the absent Youri Djorkaeff and Jean Philippe Peguero and struggled to settle into the game.
Peguero was suspended for the first of two games, his ban upheld on Friday by MLS Commissioner Don Garber after he was sanctioned for violent conduct in the scoreless draw at midweek against the Columbus Crew. But Djorkaeff, a day after being excused from the Red Bulls for what he said was a family illness, was seen in the stands in Frankfurt, Germany, cheering on France against Brazil in the World Cup quarterfinals.
The club released a statement before the game, saying: "At no point did Youri state that part of his trip was to attend the World Cup game between France and Brazil in Frankfurt, Germany or that he had any ill-feeling towards the organization. We will be addressing the situation with Youri as soon as possible."
Dempsey went close in the 12th minute when he took advantage of a breakdown in communication in the New York defense and held off Marvell Wynne's challenge before firing a shot that Meola dived to his right to save.
However, the Revolution failed to take advantage of the domination that was the main feature of the game's first quarter and were punished in the 24th minute. Buddle received the ball 30 yards from goal to the left of the penalty area and set off on a run that would see him drift by Dorman on the touchline. Facing across the goal, Buddle stepped inside Michael Parkhurst, whose challenge was not strong enough to slow him down and fired a shot that flew high inside Matt Reis' near post.
Buoyed by the leveler, New York continued to attack and came close to taking the lead twice. After 34 minutes, Wynne showed his attacking prowess with a barnstorming run on the right. The rookie left Revolution defender Avery John in his tracks and fired a fine ball across the face of the Revolution penalty area that Dorman turned behind for a corner.
One minute later, a sloppy throw by Reis was intercepted by Seth Stammler. The midfielder's pass inside found Buddle, who fired a 20-yard shot wide of the goal of the relieved Reis.
The seesaw nature of the first half continued as the period neared the end. After its sloppy period, New England turned the screw and, after Dempsey's weak shot and Twellman's flying header were both repelled by Meola, the veteran New York goalkeeper was powerless to stop Twellman's sixth goal of the season. Eight yards out, the league MVP slipped in behind Wynne to dive in and power home a header from Dorman's well-directed cross.
After the restart, Meola clawed away a fine volley from Dorman that might have sealed matters, and the Red Bulls responded by again taking advantage of defensive lapses by New England.
Magee struck his first goal of the season in the 66th minute as Buddle collected possession in the middle of the Revs half and played a square ball to Stammler, whose run forward went untracked by a blue shirt. It allowed him to move the ball to Magee on the left of the penalty area, who fired past Reis, once again at the New England goalkeeper's near post.
But the response was swift, as Dempsey collected his second goal of the game in the 72nd minute when he finished a driving run with a fine left-footed shot that found its way past the flat-footed Tony Meola. The USA World Cup star created his own space with a move to take him past Jeff Parke, but also benefited from a fine decoy run from Taylor Twellman that demanded attention from the Red Bulls' defense.
Following Dempsey's goal, New England continued to make things hard for itself when indiscipline saw the hosts forced to play out the final seven minutes with 10 men. Following a flareup over a loose ball, Amado Guevara was pushed to the ground by John, whose hand clearly struck the Honduran in the face. The offense was in full view of referee Alex Prus, who had no hesitation in showing the Trinidadian the red card.
Having lost a man, the Revs so nearly relinquished their lead with two minutes left. Guevara found more space on the edge of the penalty area and, with New England's defense backing off, floated a fine pass over Steve Ralston's head to Buddle. The former Crew man found space and looked to be set to tie the game, only to somehow direct his header from eight yards just wide of Reis' goal.
Andrew Hush is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
