NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION vs NEW YORK RED BULLS
GILLETTE STADIUM, Foxborough, Mass.
June 7, 2009 (WEEK 12) / MLS Game #92
6 p.m. ET (TV38; MSG)
The New England Revolution and New York Red Bulls renew their I-95 rivalry in the second meeting between the clubs this season. The Revolution got a jumpstart from Taylor Twellman and put an end to a six-game winless run last weeked against D.C. United - who the Red Bulls lost to on Thursday, their third consecutive loss. The Revolution scored a late equalizer in the first meeting between the teams on March 28 at the Meadowlands, extending New York's winless streak in the league series to 11 games.
REFEREE:
Hilario Grajeda. SAR (bench): Daniel Belleau; JAR (opposite): Jason Cullum; 4th: Niko Bratsis
MLS Career: 20 games; FC/gm: 29.2; Y/gm: 4.1; R: 5; pens: 6
INJURY REPORT:
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION - OUT: DF Gabriel Badilla (bulging disk); MF Mauricio Castro (L hamstring strain); DOUBTFUL: DF Chris Albright (L lateral meniscus tear); QUESTIONABLE: FW Taylor Twellman (neck pain) ... NEW YORK RED BULLS - OUT: DF Carlos Johnson (L foot fifth metatarsal fracture); FW Matthew Mbuta (L turf toe); QUESTIONABLE: FW Macoumba Kandji (L hamstring strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES:
NY: Andrew Boyens (New Zealand; June 6 vs. Botswana); Jorge Rojas (Venezuela; June 6 vs. Bolivia); Alfredo Pacheco (El Salvador; June 6 vs. Mexico)
SUSPENDED:
none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: NE: Wells Thompson
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NE: Jay Heaps, Kenny Mansally ... NY: Kevin Goldthwaite, Dane Richards
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (49 meetings): Revolution 23 wins (3 shootout), 87 goals ... Red Bulls 16 wins (2 shootout), 83 goals ... Ties 10
AT FOXBOROUGH: (23 meetings): Revolution 15 wins (1 shootout), 46 goals ... Red Bulls 4 wins (2 shootout), 29 goals ... Ties 4
REMAINING MATCH: 9/18: New England Revolution at New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
• The teams have played to draws in their last four league meetings, including both encounters a season ago and the first meeting this year.
• The New York club has not defeated the Revolution in league play since Sept. 17, 2005, a span now of 11 matches. The Revolution have won six of those, with five draws, including a five-game winning streak in the series from July 1, 2005-Aug. 25, 2006.
• The Revolution have also eliminated the MetroStars/Red Bulls from the MLS Cup Playoffs in three of the last six seasons, all on the odd years. The lone New York win in postseason play in the series came in 2005, though the Revolution won the second leg to advance.
• Coaches record: Steve Nicol vs. NY: P26 W13 L4 D9 ... Juan Carlos Osorio v NE: P4 W1 L0 D3
LAST MEETING (MLS):
3/28: NY 1, NE 1 (own goal 35 - Mansally 90)
• The Revolution again came away from New York with a point after another late equalizer left the teams in a 1-1 draw on March 28 at Giants Stadium.
• The Red Bulls used a little luck for their first goal on the year. Khano Smith sent a rolling cross in from the left and it deflected off Jay Heaps and past stand-in goalkeeper Brad Knighton in the 35th minute.
• But there were once again late heroics for the Revolution at the Meadowlands. Shalrie Joseph hooked the ball into the area in the 90th minute, and Kenny Mansally raced in to head the bouncing ball past the advancing Danny Cepero and extend the Revolution's unbeaten streak to 11 games vs. New York.
• Here's Osorio's team (4-4-2): Danny Cepero - Jeremy Hall, Carlos Mendes, Kevin Goldthwaite, Danleigh Borman - Dane Richards, Luke Sassano, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Khano Smith (Dominic Oduro 77) - Macoumba Kandji, Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Alec Dufty, Matthew Mbuta, Mike Petke, Juan Pietravallo, John Wolyniec, Nick Zimmerman
• Here's Nicol's team (4-4-2): Brad Knighton - Kevin Alston, Darrius Barnes, Jay Heaps, Chris Tierney - Sainey Nyassi (Amaechi Igwe 46), Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Wells Thompson - Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally. Substitutes Not Used: Argenis Fernandez, Pat Phelan, Zack Simmons, Rob Valentino, Michael Videira
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution put an end to their six-match winless run, getting a stoppage-time penalty kick for a 2-1 victory against D.C. United last Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution have 13 points from 10 matches on the season, sitting in a tie for fifth place in the Eastern Conference with the Columbus Crew, eight points in arrears of division leaders Chicago Fire to open the weekend.
LAST MATCH
• D.C. United came into the rematch with a nine-game undefeated streak in all competitions, while the Revolution hadn't won in their last six, beginning with a last-gasp 1-1 draw with United in Washington on April 17.
• The visitors took the lead after 36 minutes. Luciano Emilio corralled the deflection of a Clyde Simms shot and laid it back to Fred, and the Brazilian lashed home a low drive from outside the area for his first of the season.
• Shalrie Joseph had once again started the game at forward with Steve Ralston, but an injury to Jeff Larentowicz meant Taylor Twellman came on for season debut and Joseph moved back into midfield. No matter. Joseph got up at the back post to meet a Kenny Mansally cross and headed home his fourth goal on the season and third in the last four games for the 55th-minute leveler.
• Then in stoppage time, United defender Bryan Namoff was adjudged to have pulled down Twellman while grappling for the ball in the area, and Steve Ralston stepped up to slot home the resulting penalty for his third goal on the season (all from the spot) and the match-winner.
• Revolution head coach Steve Nicol made one change to the team that lost 3-1 at Toronto FC on the road the weekend before. Sainey Nyassi returned to the first XI, in place of Wells Thompson.
• Here's Nicol's team (4-4-2): Matt Reis - Kevin Alston, Darrius Barnes, Emmanuel Osei, Jay Heaps - Sainey Nyassi (Wells Thompson 77), Jeff Larentowicz (Taylor Twellman 25), Pat Phelan, Chris Tierney (Kenny Mansally 46) - Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph. Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Kheli Dube, Amaechi Igwe, Michael Videira
• "I think the second half was the biggest factor for us. Sitting watching it from where I am, I'm thinking this is more like our team; this is what we're all about: showing some heart and playing some good soccer," Nicol said. "The second half was clearly the best we've played all season. We need to start reproducing it between now and the end of the season more often."
TEAM NEWS
• Taylor Twellman was expected to see some action against United, but how much was uncertain. That was answered a quarter of the way through the match when Jeff Larentowicz took a ball in the face and had to be substituted. Shalrie Joseph moved back to his usual central midfield spot and Twellman came in to lead the attack.
• "Having Shalrie (Joseph) there was really just a stop-gap. Obviously having your main striker back just lifts everybody. It lifts the crowd. And when you put Shalrie back in the midfield, that just helps, as well. It just shows you what we've been missing and what we've had to put up with so far this season," Nicol said.
• While he did not receive a point on the night, Twellman played his part in both Revolution goals, including being hauled down for the game-winning penalty kick.
• "He puts the ball in the net, for starters. There's not too many guys in the world who can do that. He also takes pressure off other players, as well. If you're playing against Taylor you have to make sure that you know where he is and you have to be concerned about it, which means you're taking your eye off something else. So even if he doesn't touch (the ball), he's a benefit because he opens holes for other people," Nicol said. "I mean, you look at the goals as the example. Two guys were with Taylor, Shalrie makes his run and he's on his own and scores. That can tell you how important to us he is."
• As well, Twellman's presence helped with the Revolution's passing and possession game, something they had lamented losing in recent weeks. It was just the second time on the season the Revolution scored more than one goal in a game.
• "We're a different team, obviously. Little bit of that was contributed by the fact we kind of changed the way we played at halftime," Ralston said. "We came in and we said we can't just keep playing long balls. We're going to try and pass the ball a little more. Obviously when Shalrie goes back to midfield, he changes the game a little bit for us there, too. So I think that made a big difference for us, too. But having Taylor out there, you can see how the game changed."
• For Twellman, it was his appearance in a Revolution uniform since the regular season finale last year, a 3-1 loss to Kansas City on Oct. 25. He missed both legs of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against Chicago with post-concussion symptoms that affected his return to action this year.
• "It's a little emotional, just in the sense it's been a long haul. It's been eight months of trying to guess what's going on. Just thank God I figured it out. Now, granted, I didn't expect to play 70 minutes tonight and get punched in the face right away. So we'll see; it's obviously a good test," Twellman said.
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls started a two-game road swing of Eastern Conference tests with a 2-0 loss Thursday to D.C. United at RFK Stadium. The Red Bulls have nine points from 13 matches on the season, in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, 12 points behind the division-leading Chicago Fire.
LAST MATCH
• The Red Bulls had come off a four-game homestand where they went 1-2-1, while D.C. United had their nine-game unbeaten streak in all competitions put to an end the weekend before in New England.
• United took the lead in the 36th minute on a rainy night in the nation's capital. Luciano Emilio flicked on a header and Fred corralled on the right side of the area. He rounded the corner at the byeline and pulled back a sharp pass for Santino Quaranta running in from behind, and he banged it home first-time for his second goal on the season.
• The Red Bulls started to have the better of the play after the break, but a save by Josh Wicks on Juan Pablo Angel near the end of normal time proved vital. In stoppage time, Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway tripped up Christian Gomez as he tried to skip past in the area, and referee Terry Vaughn gave the penalty. Up stepped Jaime Moreno and he converted for his fourth league goal on the season and the 126th of his MLS career.
• Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio made three changes to the team that lost 3-2 to the Colorado Rapids the week before. Danleigh Borman came in on the right of a five-man midfield with Carlos Mendes into the back three and Jorge Rojas returned from suspension. Alfredo Pacheco was on international duty with Mac Kandji injured and Sinisa Ubiparipovic on the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Osorio's team (3-4-1-2): Jon Conway - Carlos Mendes (Nick Zimmerman 46), Mike Petke, Kevin Goldthwaite - Danleigh Borman (John Wolyniec 79), Albert Celades, Seth Stammler, Jeremy Hall - Jorge Rojas - Juan Pablo Angel, Dane Richards. Substitutes Not Used: Danny Cepero, Juan Pietravallo, Luke Sassano, Khano Smith, Sinisa Ubiparipovic
• "Disappointed with the result but I think the team at times played well against a very good team," Osorio said. "We limited them to only a few chances and we created our own and I think it's one more time that we created enough chances in the attacking third and we couldn't finish them up."
TEAM NEWS
• It was the sixth loss in the last eight games for the Red Bulls and the seventh time they've been shut out this season. They are also now 0-8-1 when trailing at halftime.
• "It's not pretty, the final ball is not clinical but we still created chances but unfortunately we didn't score," said Dane Richards. "I think composure in front of goal is costing us a lot of points and tonight that was very evident."
• Four of the Red Bulls losses have come by 1-0 scorelines; the United match seemed on its way to that same result until the late penalty kick.
• "It's one of those things that is very hard to explain. We played really well. It was very similar to the game we play against Chicago; we pretty much did everything right and one mistake ended up costing us the game," said striker Juan Pablo Angel. "We had our good chances but we didn't manage to put them away. It's frustrating."
• The trip to New England will be the second difficult Eastern Conference test on the road in four days, where the Red Bulls now have an 18-match winless streak in regular season play. The last win in league play away from Giants Stadium came May 10, 2008, a 2-1 win against the Los Angeles Galaxy, though they did win twice on the road in their run to the MLS Cup Final last year. The United match started a stretch of seven games out of nine away from Giants Stadium.
• "I don't know how to look at it. Physically wise, [we're] probably not [ready]. But it doesn't matter what's good for us. It's a reality that we're playing again Sunday. We'll take the train ride home [Friday] morning, gather our thoughts, get back to work, practice, get up to Boston and throw everything we have at them," said Mike Petke.
• Osorio tried to change his team's effectiveness after the break and brought on Nick Zimmerman into a wide midfield role for his MLS debut, while pushing Albert Celades farther forward in the midfield.
• "We think Nick has been improving and has been showing us that he needs playing time and he didn't disappoint anybody. He came into a very difficult game and played his game, created good chances, had one shot from distance, got good looks at goal," Osorio said. "We're very pleased with his performance and we think we made a good adjustment at halftime."
