To say the New England Revolution were disappointed with Saturday night's loss to Los Angeles would be an understatement. The Revolution fought hard all evening but ultimately failed to capitalize on a number of good chances as they suffered their first loss to the Galaxy in nine meetings.
The Revs went down early, conceding an eighth-minute goal to Alecko Eskandarian. They rebounded quickly, attacking with numbers and putting pressure on the New England defense, but they were ultimately unable to find a way past an outstanding Josh Saunders and the Galaxy defense.
"Sometimes in this game, you don't get what you deserve," said New England head coach Steve Nicol. "We stood up and showed what we're made of, but the bottom line is that the final score is 1-0. We're absolutely gutted that nothing went our way tonight."
New England was led by central midfielder Jeff Larentowicz, who was given the captain's armband for the first time in his MLS career. He and goalkeeper Matt Reis offered strong leadership to a side so hampered by injury that it wasn't even able to fill its bench for Saturday evening's contest.
"Our experience is important," said Larentowicz. "The guys are young and do have a lot of confidence, but sometimes, when the game gets tight and rough, they're going to look to the experienced guy. That's where Matt and I hope to step up and lead."
Outside of Larentowicz, Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi fueled much of the New England attack from the left and right flanks respectively. The two Gambian natives ran riot along the wings, sending crosses into the box all evening.
"We got some great stuff out of them tonight," said Revolution midfielder Pat Phelan. "They were strong, but the Galaxy did a good job of frustrating them both."
Mansally and Nyassi were often thwarted by Galaxy fullbacks A.J. DeLaGarza and Todd Dunivant, who were very physical in their defending for Los Angeles.
"Both Kenny and Sainey were manhandled all evening," said Nicol. "Too many times they were being impeded when they were going past people and unfortunately, it went unpunished."
New England also got a boost from new signing Edgaras Jankauskas. The Lithuanian made his first appearance for the team on Saturday, entering in the 60th minute.
"He showed what he's all about tonight," said Nicol of the 34-year-old. "He's got a lot of experience and I'm sure when he gets a bit more of his legs under him that he'll get on the end of some of those crosses into the penalty box."
While unhappy with the final result of the match, the Revolution are pleased with the resilience they displayed in Saturday's defeat.
"I'm really proud of the guys," said Larentowicz. "We're a thin squad, but everybody fought hard and played well all the way until the last minute. There shouldn't be a guy in the locker room that isn't proud of himself right now.
New England now returns home to take on the Kansas City Wizards in a rematch of the June 13 SuperLiga contest that saw the teams battle to a 1-1 draw, which came just days after the Wizards delivered the Revs a 3-1 defeat at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
Jeffrey King is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
