all in the last five games. A corner was swung in from the left and he picked it out of the air with a full side-volley, the ball bouncing off goalkeeper Tony Caig's chest and inside the left-hand post.
• The Revolution rounded off the victory late in the contest when Franco Caraccio won a penalty after he was pulled down on the turn by Michael Parkhurst right on the edge of the area. But Matt Reis dove to his right to save Stuart Holden's penalty.
• Revolution head coach Steve Nicol made two changes to the team that defeated FC Dallas 2-1 the previous Friday at Gillette Stadium. Amaechi Igwe came into a reconstituted back four and Pat Phelan was given his first Revolution start, as Shalrie Joseph was away on international duty and Sainey Nyassi returned to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Nicol's team (4-4-2): Matt Reis - Chris Albright, Michael Parkhurst, Jay Heaps, Amaechi Igwe - Steve Ralston, Jeff Larentowicz, Pat Phelan (Wells Thompson 80), Mauricio Castro (Sainey Nyassi 69) - Kheli Dube, Adam Cristman. Substitutes Not Used: Sam Brill, Chase Hilgenbrinck, Chris Tierney, Brandon Tyler, Doug Warren
TEAM NEWS
• With three players missing to national team duty, Nicol put out his team in a 4-4-2 scheme for a rare match. Key to the scheme was putting Pat Phelan into a central midfield axis alongside Jeff Larentowicz with Shalrie Joseph away.
• "We were both definitely not at full strength," goalkeeper Matt Reis said, "and we had a guy [rookie midfielder Pat Phelan] that had never even played with us before and practiced with us twice play significant minutes for us. We were both in the same boat, and we were good enough to get away with three points."
• Kheli Dube found the back of the net for the third time in four games. "He's holding it. He's moving well," Nicol said. "He's putting the ball in the net. We really can't ask for any more from him."
• Ralston's goal marked the midfielder's third consecutive game with a goal or an assist. But in this case, he moved to a wide midfield role after having been slotted back into his spot underneath the front two since returning from injury.
• "It's a great result," Ralston said. "I don't think we played our best the entire game. Obviously we came up pretty flat on a couple of chances early in the game, but in the middle of the first half we put some decent things together."
• After the second of two heavy defeats by the Chicago Fire on the season, the Revolution have five wins and a draw in their last six games.
• "We've done it in a not very glamorous fashion. We've been effective at times. We've had timely goals," Reis said. "We've played very well on the road. I don't think anyone is going to take the tape of the game and put it up as one of the best-played soccer games, but we're effective on the road. We won, 2-0, away from home and we're very happy with that."
• The Revolution have now posted three shutouts in their last five matches, after seeing just two in their first eight games. "I think we defended great. I think we can still hold the ball better than we did, but every single one stood up strong and got it done," Nicol said. Added Steve Ralston: "I thought we defended really well. The one thing we said before the game was if we're going to do anything well, let's get in good spots and defend and make it hard, and I thought we did that."
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls crashed back to earth after a home win against Chivas USA, losing for the third time in four games in a 4-1 defeat by D.C. United on Saturday evening at RFK Stadium. The Red Bulls have 15 points from 11 matches, sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, a point behind United and three ahead of the Kansas City Wizards.
LAST MATCH
• D.C. United had started to turn things around, two wins and a draw following a four-game losing skid. The Red Bulls returned to their winning ways the weekend before, a victory against Chivas USA ending a three-game winless run.
• United took a commanding lead with two goals in four minutes midway through the first half. First, Santino Quaranta led a classic counter attack, swinging the ball to Fred on the right, and he pulled a rolling cross into the goalmouth for Luciano Emilio to easily touch home. Then from a freekick, Jaime Moreno touched the ball square, and Clyde Simms let fly from all of 25 yards out, sending a rasping drive inside the left-hand post.
• Just before the half, United put in the first dagger, and again it was Emilio. Quaranta took a Moreno pass and tried to curl it past Jon Conway. The Red Bulls goalkeeper palmed it away, but Emilio swooped it to knock home the rebound and make it 3-0.
• The Red Bulls pulled a goal back in the 58th minute when Dave van den Bergh collected the rebound of a shot off the bar, cut back across the top of the area and stroked a shot inside the far post from the right, his third goal on the season.
• Yet again United provided the finishing touch, and yet again it was Emilio. Sprung by Moreno, Devon McTavish strolled up the center of the park before laying the ball off to his right to Emilio, and the Brazilian gleefully pounded the ball home for his first MLS hat trick and his seventh goal on the season, six coming in the last four matches.
• Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osrio made two changes to the team that knocked off Chivas USA 1-0 at home the previous week. Luke Sassano was given the start in the playmaking midfield role, while John Wolyniec came in for the injured Juan Pablo Angel up top.
• Here's Osorio's team (4-2-3-1): Jon Conway - Chris Leitch (Carlos Mendes 60), Andrew Boyens, Jeff Parke, Kevin Goldthwaite - Seth Stammler, Dave van den Bergh - Dane Richards, Luke Sassano (Hunter Freeman 74), Danleigh Borman (Oscar Echeverry 46) - John Wolyniec. Substitutes Not Used: Mike Magee, Kevin Mesa, Caleb Patterson-Sewell, Sinisa Ubiparipovic
• "Until the first goal, it was basically a very even game. Then we just decided to go forward. We had no organization. They counter-attacked and with four passes they go through our defense and it's a goal," Osorio said. "I am very disappointed with our defense today. We allowed open shots on goal. On the night, we lost against a better team. We failed to keep possession and hopefully we will improve."
TEAM NEWS
• The Red Bulls gave up four or more goals in a loss for the second time in the past four games. And the defensive core -- the back four, defensive midfielder Seth Stammler and goalkeeper Jon Conway -- is the healthiest group on the team.
• "We did have some of key players missing tonight, but the back four is still intact and there's Seth (Stammler) there," Kevin Goldthwaite said. "So there's five of us in the back, six including Jon Conway. We still have to take care of our responsibilities defensively."
• Where the Red Bulls were most thin was in attacking options.Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna are suffering from herniated discs and were left home, as well as Jozy Altidore, as his transfer is completed, and Chris Megaloudis, who played with the Puerto Rican national team Saturday night.
• "This is over. We need to see what players are available for Wednesday. Try to put a decent team that is willing to compete and hopefully get a result in Boston," Osorio said.
• Osorio gave the role of attacking midfielder to rookie Luke Sassano, has also played wide in the midfield and as a defensive midfielder this season.
• "Since Day One, I have stated he's a player who does the basics well," Osorio said of Sassano. "He can control the ball well, he can pass it well. I think he's more than capable of doing a good job for us."
• Angel is not expected to be available for the Revolution match, and Reyna availability is also in question.
• "A lot of the stuff he's been dealing with in the higher part of his hamstring from his back is starting to dissipate," Red Bulls athletic trainer Rick Guter said of Angel. "But he still has a little bit of a lingering thing at the bottom (of his hamstring). He's up to running, so that's a good sign. Hopefully this little bit of rest period will help him get over the hump."
