It was back to old school ways for Taylor Twellman against the New York Red Bulls in more ways than one Wednesday night. The New England Revolution went back to the formula that helped them get to the MLS Cup last year in a dominating 2-0 win at Giants Stadium.
And the Revs did it, inching closer to clinching a playoff berth, without leader Shalrie Joseph.
"It was awesome," Twellman said. "Obviously, coming into New York needing a win, we kind of got back to our old style of winning and pressuring teams and it worked."
Joseph missed the game, and is likely out for the remainder of the regular season with damaged tendons in his right hand. The two-time All-Star reportedly suffered the injury in a Boston-area nightclub fracas.
But despite playing without their engine, the Revs still dominated the center of the park, thanks to the play of Andy Dorman, Joe Franchino and Jeff Larentowicz.
"I think clearly losing Shalrie is a blow to us," Steve Nicol said. "He's a big influence on the team but I think you saw tonight that we have a good squad and everyone has picked up the slack. The three guys in the middle did a great job for us both going forward and defensively. I think we showed what we're all about tonight. We're not a one-man team."
With Joseph out of the lineup, James Riley earned the start and played well on the left side of midfield.
"It's just good to get on the pitch no matter what," Riley said. "I wish the guys well when I'm not on the field, I'm ready to go in as a sub and in as a starter. It was just a good collective effort and I was just glad I was able to contribute and help us get a win."
Red Bulls boss Bruce Arena, for one, was impressed with the dominance of Twellman, Clint Dempsey and Dorman.
"They way they controlled the game from their positions, I thought was pretty impressive," he said.
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.
Taylor Graham attempted to clear, but whiffed and Steve Ralston laid the ball back to Twellman, who beat Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway from eight yards out for his team-leading 10th goal of the year.
"I was just happy the whistle didn't blow afterwards, telling me I was offsides," Twellman said. "It was nice. Obviously, [Steve] Ralston did a great job of getting on the end of the ball and I just hit it as hard as I could into the corner like I usually try to do."
Kovalenko went into 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, knocking home 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.
"I think the key is to go in on a roll into the playoffs," Twellman said. "Obviously, other teams are kind of slowing down so if we could go in on a roll, the ball is in our court."
Dylan Butler is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
