The New England Revolution maintained their margin atop the Eastern Conference, coming away from Arrowhead Stadium with a vital 1-0 victory against the Kansas City Wizards on Sunday evening.
The Revolution had camped out in the Wizards' end nearly all evening long. But they had nothing to show for it until the 72nd minute, a textbook goal from striker Taylor Twellman.
Midfielder Khano Smith set up Twellman beautifully, hitting Twellman in-stride with a diagonal pass at the back post. All Twellman had to do was tap it into the empty goal as he slid in at the end of a perfectly timed charge to the net.
The Wizards had not played in 17 days since their match against the Revolution on August 2. On the other hand, the Revolution had played five matches since that match, last losing a 3-0 decision to the Colorado Rapids on Thursday night.
The Wizards appeared a bit sluggish, especially in the first half of the match, as they struggled to overcome the layoff and find a rhythm.
It didn't take long for the Revolution to create a scoring opportunity -- they had one in the first minute of play. With the ball on the right side, Twellman was given time to run at the penalty area and sent a low shot across goal between a defender's legs. Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman dove to his right and just got enough of the shot to deflect it around the post.
Shalrie Joseph let fly with a fierce effort from 25 yards away in the center of the field in the eighth minute. The shot bounced off the chest of Hartman and back into the goalmouth, but it was cleared.
The Revolution were successfully breaking up Wizards passes in transition at midfield. The midfield stops made for quick counterattacks on the Wizards defense.
The Revolution had yet another near-miss when, from a free kick, midfielder Andy Dorman took the restart and directed it to forward Adam Cristman. Cristman's lunge forward to head the ball missed to the left in the 16th minute.
Both teams made changes at halftime. Revolution head coach Steve Nicol was forced to bring on James Riley for an injured Jay Heaps, while Curt Onalfo brought on newly acquired Argentinian Eloy Colombano for his MLS debut.
The Revolution continued to hang around the Wizards goal. Midfielder Andy Dorman took a corner kick in the 54th minute that found midfielder Jeff Larentowicz. But Laurentowicz's header was over the goal.
At the other end, the Wizards weren't creating much, but a Carlos Marinelli free kick did bring a punch save from Revolution 'keeper Matt Reis.
The Wizards struggled offensively, while the Revolution kept gathering chances. They kept clouding the Wizards goal looking for that one strike to fall between the pipes.
It came quickly, in the 72nd minute. Joseph took the ball in the midfield and quickly sprung Smith on the left. While the Wizards claimed offside on the play, there was no question both Smith and Twellman were in front of the final defender as the passes were played, and Twellman was able to convert for his 10th goal on the season.
The Wizards tried to make one last push over the final 15 minutes, going with three forwards as Scott Sealy came on. But they couldn't get any closer to the goal they needed, ending the game 10 points behind the Revolution in the middle of a scramble for the MLS Cup Playoffs, while New England came through the weekend with their six-point lead intact in the Eastern Conference.
Thomas Foote is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
