FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - An improbable own goal gave the New England Revolution a 2-1 victory against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium and maintained the Revolution's three-point advantage atop the Eastern Conference.
The match was headed for a draw until the 80th minute. From 40 yards away on the right touchline, Carlos Mendes passed back towards Red Bulls 'keeper Jon Conway only for Conway to misjudge the pass and see the ball trickle into the far left hand corner of his net to hand New England all three points.
New York opened the scoring in the 30th minute after Jozy Altidore finished deftly with the outside of his right foot after a wonderful one-two with Juan Pablo Angel. New England replied just after halftime through Taylor Twellman before the own goal decided the contest.
The result was harsh on the visitors, who probably deserved something from the game only to concede the tying and winning goals through a play started by a Matt Reis punt and an own goal. With the victory, New England extended its gap over third-place New York to nine points.
Red Bulls goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus was left off the travel roster for personal reasons, giving Conway the start in goal. Claudio Reyna earned his first start since July 12 after recovering from a groin strain. Dave van den Bergh suffered a concussion in Wednesday's 3-1 loss to D.C. United but was fit enough to make the bench. Recently signed youth international Francis Doe was handed a place on the bench.
Revolution defender Jay Heaps was left out with a calf strain. It was the first game Heaps had missed due to injury in his Revolution career. James Riley was installed at right back in his place. Pat Noonan remained out with a groin strain with Adam Cristman continuing to deputize, partnering Taylor Twellman in attack.
The visitors carved out the first two chances of the contest and had the first goal, only for the offside flag to rule it out. Altidore headed into the lower right hand corner of the net past Reis in the ninth minute, but he was just behind the last defender and drew the flag from the assistant referee. Reyna had a glorious chance in the 14th minute after Clint Mathis sent him through, but Reyna's tame shot was collected by Reis.
Against the run of play, New England was awarded a penalty in the 17th minute. Jeff Larentowicz fed the ball into the feet of Cristman at the top of the penalty area. Seth Stammler grabbed the back of Cristman's shirt and the rookie striker fell to the deck, earning a surprising spot kick from referee Baldomero Toledo. But Shalrie Joseph sent the resulting penalty wide of the left hand post.
Altidore was not to be denied and vaulted the away side in front on 30 minutes. Simple interplay between Angel and Altidore unlocked the Revolution defense. Angel's pass to finish the one-two sprung Altidore, and the 17-year old notched his eighth goal of the campaign with a classy finish past Reis at the right hand post with the outside of his right boot.
Larentowicz nearly engineered a reply eight minutes later, but his scuffed shot along the carpet just missed Conway's right-hand post after sneaking through the Red Bulls' defense.
New England was asserting itself and Twellman forced an awkward save from Jon Conway in the 42nd minute after his header from a Khano Smith cross hit Conway on his foot before the Red Bulls cleared the danger.
Less than a minute after the restart, New England drew level. It was all too simple for Twellman, as he trapped a booming Reis goal kick and headed straight for goal without any pressure. Twellman slid his finish to the right of Conway to notch his 11th goal on the campaign.
Angel threatened in the 61st minute after Reyna started the move that saw Dane Richards slide the Colombian through. Angel's effort was low and hard, but Reis did well to save and then cover up any potential rebound.
Richards made all the hard running in the 66th minute, chasing down a ball to the byline and turning it back for Angel at the near post. But Angel could only take the sharp angle effort and turn it into the right side netting.
Joseph narrowly headed over 10 minutes later. Steve Ralston's corner kick found the rising Joseph, but the Grenada international nodded over the bar.
Improbably, New England took the lead on a bizarre own goal. Mendes collected along the sideline and passed the ball back towards Conway. Conway should have handled the ball with ease, but the 'keeper misjudged the pace of the pass and saw the ball improbably nestle into the far corner.
Mathis carved out the best chance to equalize in stoppage time after Stammler cut back and dropped the ball into his path, but Mathis's 19-yard blast blazed over the bar.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
