The New England Revolution rode out a first-half D.C. United storm, limiting the halftime deficit to just a single goal, before fighting back strongly in the second period to pick up a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw against the runaway Eastern Conference leaders at Gillette Stadium.
Josh Gros tapped United into the lead just past the halfway mark in the first half, before Clint Dempsey drew New England level 11 minutes after the break.
D.C. showed from the outset exactly why they have led the East from the start of the season, with Peter Nowak's side dominant in both territory and possession. While New England struggled to maintain control of the ball on a field that was heavily sanded in its center, United made light of the conditions and put together a string of neat passing moves.
It was a set piece that led to D.C.'s first chance of the game, however. With everyone expecting Christian Gomez to shoot from a freekick 25 yards from goal, the Argentinean instead played a pass to his left to the unmarked Gros, who was denied only by a goalmouth block by Michael Parkhurst.
The bright thinking of United was symptomatic of the away side's play in the opening half and was in contrast to the Revolution, who were a step behind their opponents. In the 13th minute came another lucky escape for the hosts, when Matt Reis flapped at a corner. The ball fell to Ben Olsen on the edge of the penalty area, whose shot was blocked on the line by Joe Franchino.
Twelve minutes later, however, New England would run out of good fortune. Freddy Adu was given too much space to cut inside on the right of the penalty area by Avery John, and when the teenager's shot was not held by Reis, Gros reacted quickest to tap in from three yards for his third goal of the season.
Being behind did energize the Revolution a little and Steve Nicol's side reacted to the deficit positively, though in truth offered little serious threat to Troy Perkins' goal. Dempsey looked lively when allowed to turn and run at the United backline, but with Pat Noonan injured, too often the Texan found himself playing as a targetman with his back to goal, which had a limit on his effectiveness.
While D.C. looked to use the whole Gillette Stadium field, the Revolution often became bogged down in the first half in the center. Additionally, when New England was able to get the ball wide, the quality of service from the flanks was poor. The home side forced three corners in the opening 45 minutes and each one was claimed easily by Perkins.
New England's two best chances fell to their captain. Franchino, having been booked for a late challenge on Olsen three minutes earlier, volleyed a 14th minute effort just wide of Perkins' left post, and later, six minutes before the break, the D.C. goalkeeper was forced into a diving save from Franchino's 25-yard freekick.
After the interval New England looked like a different side, and in the 55th minute the Revs drew level. Following a freekick from the left by Andy Dorman, Facundo Erpen's clearance from a Jay Heaps header across goal was headed back into the United penalty area by Franchino to Twellman, who did well to twist his body to head across goal to Dempsey, who swept home his fifth goal of the season on the volley from six yards.
The goal inspired New England to take the game to D.C. and Nicol's side almost took the lead in the 59th minute. Dempsey's run behind the United defense was spotted by Shalrie Joseph, who played a neat through ball into the path of the Revs goalscorer. Dempsey took a touch to round Perkins, and from the right goal line scooped a cross to the far post that Twellman headed into the side netting. The angle was tight for the New England leading scorer with Erpen in front of him, but Twellman will feel he should have hit the target.
Following that frenetic period, the game settled once again as both sides took a cautious approach to pushing forward. New England made a change when Franchino was replaced by Khano Smith, but the enigmatic Bermudan had little impact in the 17 minutes he was on the field other than to get booked for a bad challenge on Gros.
As the game came to a close, Dempsey remained the main threat for the Revs and he and Twellman both headed half chances over. Meanwhile, D.C. signaled their intent in the 75th minute when Jaime Moreno was withdrawn from proceedings. His replacement, Rod Dyachenko, did cause a slight worry in the Revs defense in stoppage time when he blazed a shot across Reis' goal. However, the effort missed both the far post and the lurking Jamil Walker and went behind for a goal kick.
Andrew Hush is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
