The New York Red Bulls could not crack the New England Revolution defense Wednesday night, falling 2-0 at Giants Stadium. With the loss, the Red Bulls remain in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Kansas City Wizards for the final playoff berth.
Taylor Twellman and Andy Dorman scored for the Revs, who took three of the four meetings between the rivals. The Revs won both games at Gillette Stadium and the first meeting ended in a scoreless draw at Giants Stadium on April 8. New England can book their spot in the playoffs with a win at home Saturday against Kansas City and a Red Bulls loss at D.C. United.
The Red Bulls, who were 5-0-3 in their last eight games at Giants Stadium, squandered a chance to leapfrog idle Kansas City and move into a tie for third place with the Revs.
With Carlos Mendes (yellow card accumulation) and Mike Magee (red card vs. Columbus) suspended for one game and Todd Dunivant ruled out with a left quadriceps strain, seldom-used Taylor Graham started in the middle of Jeff Parke and Seth Stammler as Red Bulls head coach Bruce Arena went to a back three.
Amado Guevara returned to the New York lineup after a one-game ban, for a red card in the last meeting with New England.
New England was without Best XI central midfielder Shalrie Joseph, who is reportedly lost for the remainder of the regular season with tendon damage in his right hand following an altercation in a Boston-area nightclub. Pat Noonan, a traditional killer of the New York club, was also out with a hip flexor.
With Joseph out, James Riley got the start and Joe Franchino slid into Joseph's central midfield spot.
The Revs took a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute on a play that started with a quick restart by Franchino on a midfield foul by Dema Kovalenko. Dorman ran into space and sent a cross that took a deflection off Seth Stammler in the box. Graham attempted to clear, but whiffed and Steve Ralston laid the ball back to Twellman, who beat Jon Conway from eight yards out for his team-leading 10th goal of the year.
Franchino nearly gave one back three minutes later when he was called for a foul 30 yards from goal. Youri Djorkaeff stepped up to take the free kick, but it deflected off the Revs' four-man wall and nearly eluded Matt Reis at the far post.
Both teams exchanged scoring chances in the 29th minute with Riley putting a shot on target off a ball that squirted to the top of the box off a corner kick and Marvell Wynne forced Reis to make a diving save to his left on a hard shot from 20 yards out.
Off a succession of headers, Graham nodded the ball off the crossbar in the 36th minute and four minutes later, Parke headed the ball over the net off an Guevara corner.
Conway nearly gave away a goal just before halftime when he lost the ball to Dempsey after being put under pressure by Twellman. But Dempsey's shot went off Conway and the outside side netting for a corner kick.
Arena made one change at the half, bringing on newly-signed Austrian Markus Schopp for Chris Henderson. Jozy Altidore replaced Edson Buddle in the 59th minute. But Altidore, whose blistering winner kept the Red Bulls in playoff contention Saturday, couldn't produce the same magic again.
Dema Kovalenko went in referee Ricardo Salazar's book for taking down Dorman from behind in the 47th minute. Dempsey took the ensuing free kick, nearly pushing it past Conway, who dived to his left. The rebound bounced out and Dorman finished easily, slotting in his sixth goal of the year. It's the first time the Revs scored more than one goal in a game since July 8, a span of 12 overall games.
With Guevara facing a one-game suspension on his next yellow card, Arena took the Honduran international off in the 77th minute, replacing him with rookie Blake Camp, who nearly scored a minute later. But his sliding shot off a Djorkaeff corner kick was pushed away by Reis.
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
