Two goals separated by mere seconds spelled the difference Saturday night as the New England Revolution beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2 at The Home Depot Center.
Taylor Twellman scored a pair of goals, giving him a league-leading six for the season, after rookie Adam Cristman had scored the opener in pacing New England to the win. Kyle Martino and Tyrone Marshall each scored for the home team.
Despite having played 120 minutes of soccer on Tuesday night, the Galaxy were the quicker team to the ball throughout the opening 30 minutes. Los Angeles was first to almost every loose ball, won the majority of the 50/50 balls and was constantly intercepting wayward passes. As a result, the Galaxy were the first team on the board after just 14 minutes.
A nice buildup through midfield saw Landon Donovan find Pete Vagenas. Vagenas played a perfect through pass to Martino who was sprinting in from the left flank. With his first touch, Martino curled the ball with a right-footed shot into the far side netting to give Los Angeles the lead.
Minutes later the Galaxy nearly doubled their advantage. Donovan brought down a long ball out of the midfield with his chest and raced into the area. He managed to shake himself free from James Riley, but when he gathered himself to shoot, he pushed his effort wide of the back post.
The rest of the scoring chances in the first half all went the Revolution's way. In the 21st minute, Cristman beat Marshall on the touchline and dribbled in on Joe Cannon. Cristman shot towards the back post but Ty Harden slid in to deflect the shot with near-disastrous results. The rookie saw his deflection bounce off the upright and trickle out for a corner kick.
Cristman was again making a nuisance of himself, and nearly set up Twellman with a cross. Twellman dove in to try and meet the ball and managed to get the slightest of touches on it, but his header glanced wide of the net.
New England continued to apply the pressure in search of the equalizer and nearly did from a corner kick. Twellman was mixing it up in the area and managed to put a strong header on target. Cannon was well positioned to make the save, but juggled the ball on the bounce. Martino, the Galaxy goal scorer, saved a goal by clearing the ball off the line.
New England got the final chance of the half just two minutes before the break. Shalrie Joseph won a free kick 25 yards from goal. Andy Dorman stepped up to take the restart and put his shot on target, but right at Cannon.
Two minutes into the second half, New England found the game-tying goal. Dorman bent in a free kick from the left wing, and Steve Ralston flicked the ball onto the back post where Cristman was waiting. The rookie hit a side volley on the turn off the post and into the back of the net.
For Ralston, on a night he was making his 318th league appearance, taking over the all-time lead from Chris Henderson, it was his league-leading sixth assist, giving him 113 for his career. That is just one behind Carlos Valderrama for the all-time MLS lead.
The goal woke up Los Angeles, and it went back on the attack instantly. In the 50th minute the Galaxy won a free kick of their own. New England failed to clear the ball, and a high looping ball fell to Martino, who ripped a full volley on target. But Matt Reis was perfectly positioned at his near post to deflect the shot out for a corner.
New England came right back and took the lead in the 52nd minute. Jay Heaps sent a long ball into the area and Twellman rose up to meet the ball, pinging a header off the crossbar. With Cannon already laid out from the first attempt, Twellman had a wide open net to nod the rebound into.
New England was relentless coming out of the dressing rooms and in the 56th minute, Riley came up from his left back position and took a shot from point-blank range that forced a great reflex save from Cannon. From the ensuing corner kick, the ball bounced through the six-yard box where a diving Twellman managed to get his head on it, but missed wide.
Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop quickly went to his bench, bringing on Nate Jaqua and Cobi Jones to try and turn the tide. In the 67th minute, Jones squirted free on the right wing and picked out Martino with a cross. Martino won the ball, but was bumped in mid-air causing his header to pop straight up into the air, making it an easy save for Reis.
In the 73rd minute, Ralston uncorked a wicked blast from the top of the box that forced another good save from Cannon. Twellman tried to pounce on the loose ball, but Cannon was quick to recover and quelled the danger.
Los Angeles didn't quit though and continued pressure led to a handful of scoring chances, the best of which came in the 82nd minute. Second half sub Santino Quaranta got in behind the Revolution defense and played a ball along the ground to Donovan. Donovan got a slight flick on the ball, but missed wide of the target.
New England failed to clear a corner kick in the 84th minute, and the ball dropped to Chris Albright inside the area. Albright hit a volley through traffic that had Reis beat, but Michael Parkhurst was right there to clear the ball off the line.
But on the ensuing corner kick, Marshall flicked a header at the near post past Reis to tie the game.
While the crowd was still cheering the goal, New England took the restart down the field and regained the lead. Joseph found Pat Noonan, who crossed the ball to Twellman, who tucked the ball home with his right boot to give the Revolution their second consecutive win against the Galaxy in California after going 10 years without a win in L.A.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
