FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Despite generating a series of chances after going a man down, the Columbus Crew could not find a way past the in-form Matt Reis to grab an equalizer, falling 1-0 to the New England Revolution Sunday night at Gillette Stadium.
Revolution defensive midfielder Jeff Larentowicz grabbed the game's only goal in the 34th minute, finishing off a scrum in the penalty area after an Andy Dorman shot was deflected into the mixer off Jay Heaps.
The Crew then had Joseph Ngwenya sent off in the 64th minute after the striker put a hand to Dorman's throat after a confrontation between Dorman and Crew 'keeper Bill Gaudette.
The result was harsh on a Crew side that had a 88th minute penalty kick spectacularly saved by Reis, as he forced Eddie Gaven's strike to the right of the post after James Riley handled from a Crew corner kick. The Crew created multiple chances in the last quarter-hour.
Crew head coach Sigi Schmid named an unchanged side from last week's 1-0 victory over New York, while Steve Nicol was forced into two changes as Pat Noonan and suspended duo Clint Dempsey and Joe Franchino missed out. Willie Sims, Jeff Larentowicz and Jose Cancela were all called into Nicol's starting 11.
Columbus came to grips with the match early on, looking threatening on the break in the first stanza but conceding most of the possession to the home side.
The best Crew chance of the half was the match's first in the 29th minute as Ngwenya attacked the center channel. Given room to distribute, the Zimbabwean found the run of Rusty Pierce down the left. As Reis rushed out of his goal, Pierce's left footed attempt skipped wide of the left hand post.
New England worked their way into the game after the scare. Shalrie Joseph's 30-yard drive just missed Gaudette's left hand post, while Taylor Twellman had a goal ruled out for offside. The Revolution forward poked home a Gaudette rebound after Dorman forced the Crew keeper in a smart save, but Twellman was offside on the initial attempt.
The home side found joy on 34 minutes as they took the lead through Larentowicz. The former Brown defender poked home his first professional goal after a scrum in front of the net. Dorman volleyed into the area and the ball deflected off Heaps to the feet of Larentowicz, who made no mistake and left Gaudette with no chance.
In the 60th minute, a fracas ensued after the Revolution took a free kick quickly. Referee Shane Moody blew the play dead and chaos emerged after Dorman tried to poke an effort past Gaudette.
The two confronted each other and members from both sides joined the fray. This included Ngwenya, who put a hand to Dorman's throat and shoved him. After lengthy discussions, Moody issued cautions to Dorman and Gaudette and sent off Ngwenya.
Twellman should have doubled the Revolution lead four minutes later from eight yards, but his mis-hit effort was right at Gaudette.
Despite their disadvantage, the Crew carved out a couple of good looks at goal in the latter stages of the match but could not find their way past the determined Reis.
Jason Garey had his best chance of the match after 78 minutes. Played in by substitute Ned Grabavoy down the right, Garey dragged his shot across the face of goal and just wide of Reis' right-hand post.
Jose Retiz forced a save from Reis with his 10 yard free kick three minutes later. Reis spilled the effort and then covered up quickly.
But Reis kept his best save for last, denying Gaven from the spot after Riley got his hand on an incoming corner kick. Reis guessed correctly and dove to his right to deny Gaven's well-struck effort, condemning the Crew to their third loss in four contests.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
