FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England attempted to beat Real Salt Lake on Saturday night by doing what few teams ever attempt against the reigning MLS Cup champions: Pass the ball better than the possession-oriented Claret-and-Cobalt.
The ambitious approach yielded some dividends for the Revs on the night, but a pair of lapses at the back undid the home side as RSL used an Alvaro Saborio header six minutes from time to escape Gillette Stadium with a 2-1 victory.
The final scoreline probably flattered the visitors after New England stormed out of the gates and applied pressure on a weary RSL side for much of the first half. By generating decent rhythm in possession and restricting Real Salt Lake from stringing together their usual succession of passes through midfield, the Revs wrested control of the contest from the outset and pushed themselves into the attacking half with regularity.
“We're not a good kick and run team,” Revolution midfielder Pat Phelan told MLSsoccer.com after the match. “We've never been. It's encouraging that we started the game off well. Unfortunately, we didn't get anything out of it. But we're keeping the ball better, being dangerous, creating more chances and it's taking a lot of pressure off our defenders.”
Although the Revs' hard work heaped pressure on RSL's defensive shape, they toiled in their attempts to break down their opposition. A lack of cutting thrust in the final third generally limited New England to long-distance opportunities and gradually increased the consternation as RSL improved after the break and started to push forward more regularly.
“We were getting frustrated that we weren't getting anything out of our chances,” Phelan said. “Against a team like that, you can't do that.”
RSL grasped the opportunity allotted by the home side and snatched all three points with a pair off headers from set pieces.
Nat Borchers opened the scoring in the 68th minute with his second tally in as many weeks from a Javier Morales free kick, but New England's Sainey Nyassi replied for the Revs after he capped a tidy move with a stinging drive that went through goalkeeper Nick Rimando's parry and rolled into the far side of the net after 82 minutes.
Saborío decided the contest two minutes later as he nodded home his 10th goal of the season off a Morales corner kick to send RSL to the top of the Western Conference for at least 24 hours. On Sunday, the Los Angeles Galaxy play Chivas USA in the SuperClásico with a chance to jumpfrog RSL.
Revolution coach Steve Nicol applauded his side's efforts on the night and though his players deserved more than glory in defeat, he fumed about how RSL collected their two goals.
“They're both basic error goals,” Nicol said. “You go down to the park on Sunday morning, you shouldn't see two goals like that on a football field. That's where we let ourselves down.”
Those untimely concessions ultimately left New England with little take from a third consecutive match in which they once again mustered a decent performance without capturing the desired victory.
“It's great that we're finally playing and we're not just kicking the ball,” Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis said. “We're trying to pass and we've done a pretty good job in the past couple of games. But, in the end, we need results.”
