FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Alejandro Moreno scored twice to dampen Diego Fagundez's electric debut Saturday night and give Chivas USA a 3-2 victory over New England at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.
Moreno opened the scoring after 31 minutes to stake Chivas USA (7-8-8) to a halftime lead. Nick LaBrocca doubled the lead in the 59th minute, but Shalrie Joseph replied from the penalty spot 10 minutes later after Heath Pearce caught second-half substitute Fagundez in the penalty area.
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Moreno restored the two-goal lead in the 80th minute before Fagundez poked home with four minutes remaining to set up a grandstand finish.
Chivas USA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy conjured up a fantastic save on Joseph in second-half stoppage time to secure the Red-and-White's fifth consecutive victory over the Revs (4-10-9) and end the home side's three-match unbeaten run.
New England striker Milton Caraglio made his full debut as one of four changes to the Revolution's starting XI after Saturday's 1-1 draw at Sporting Kansas City. The new Designated Player replaced the injured Rajko Lekic (toe) and partnered with Zack Schilawski up front as the Revs switched to a 4-4-2 setup.
Ryan Cochrane (left foot pain), Sainey Nyassi and Chris Tierney (suspension) all returned to the lineup with Franco Coria (left MCL sprain), Pat Phelan (right hip flexor strain) and A.J. Soares (suspension) all omitted.
Chivas USA boss Robin Fraser inserted Moreno into the starting XI in the only change to his group from Sunday's 1-0 defeat to FC Dallas. Moreno partnered with Justin Braun up top as Fraser returned to the 4-4-2 diamond setup that sparked the Red-and-White to a 3-0 victory when these two teams met earlier this year.
French midfielder Laurent Courtois settled for a place on the bench after confirming his free transfer move from Grenoble Foot 38 of France earlier this week.
New England started the brighter of the two sides, but Chivas USA settled into the match after the Revolution's early flurry and dictated the terms of the match as the first half progressed.
The home side probably should have opened the scoring on a couple of occasions in the stretched opening period, but two gilt-edged chances went begging inside the first 22 minutes. Cochrane pushed his header wide at the far post after just six minutes as he failed to consolidate the Revs' early dominance. Caraglio and Tierney both could have finished off a sequence started by Schilawski's service, but neither player could quite turn home from close range.
Chivas USA located their rhythm in possession as the half progressed and their work on the ball ultimately paid dividends after 31 minutes. Simon Elliott started the move with an inch-perfect diagonal to LaBrocca on the right flank. LaBrocca curled his cross into the space between Darrius Barnes and Matt Reis and permitted Moreno to turn home his first goal since returning from Copa América duty with Venezuela.
New England pushed forward in the latter segment of the first half and in the early portion of the second stanza, but the Red-and-White consolidated their advantage shortly into the second half.
LaBrocca tied Justin Braun atop the Red-and-White's goal-scoring charts by notching his seventh goal of the campaign. LaBrocca fired home at the second time of asking after his initial effort deflected off Barnes as the Revs were left to lament their sloppy work in midfield.
Revs head coach Steve Nicol threw Home Grown Player Fagundez on for his MLS debut after 66 minutes and the 16-year-old reaped immediate dividends by drawing a penalty two minutes after he took the field.
Fagundez tempted Heath Pearce into a tackle just inside the Chivas USA penalty area. Referee Mark Kadlecik pointed to the spot despite the bitter protests from Pearce and the other Red-and-White defenders. Joseph ignored those claims and thumped home the resulting penalty kick for his seventh goal of the season.
New England pushed forward in search of the equalizer and nearly found it with 13 minutes to play. Stephen McCarthy nearly headed home from close range, but Kennedy did well to push away the effort to preserve the lead.
Kennedy's saved proved vital as Moreno restored the two-goal lead with 10 minutes to play. Chivas USA once again used the ample amount of space afforded to carve up the Revs at the back. Ante Jazic played the crucial ball into the area and prompted Moreno to turn home his second goal of the night.
Fagundez threw the Revolution an unexpected life line with four minutes by scoring his first MLS goal. Alston played a long ball up field. Zarek Valentin misplayed the service and allowed Fagundez to ghost in to slot home to slice the advantage to one goal.
Kennedy preserved the three points for the visitors in second-half stoppage time with yet another fine save. Joseph carved out a little bit of space in the area and fired toward the near post, but Kennedy pushed the effort onto the post to ensure the Red-and-White left Gillette Stadium with all three points.
Scoring Summary:
CHV -- Alejandro Moreno 4 (Nick LaBrocca 4, Simon Elliott 2) 31
CHV -- Nick LaBrocca 7 (unassisted) 59
NE -- Shalrie Joseph 7 (penalty kick) 69
CHV -- Alejandro Moreno 5 (Ante Jazic 6, Justin Braun 4) 80
NE -- Diego Fagundez 1 (Kevin Alston 2) 86
Misconduct Summary:
CHV -- Dan Kennedy (caution; Dissent) 70
Lineups:
Chivas USA -- Dan Kennedy, Zarek Valentin, Michael Umana, Heath Pearce, Ante Jazic, Nick LaBrocca, Simon Elliott (Paulo Nagamura 76), Blair Gavin (Ben Zemanski 56), Jorge Flores (Laurant Courtois 66), Alejandro Moreno, Justin Braun.
Substitutes Not Used: Michael Lahoud, Francisco Mendoza, Marcos Mondaini, Zach Thornton.
New England Revolution -- Matt Reis, Kevin Alston, Ryan Cochrane (Pat Phelan 82), Darrius Barnes, Zack Schilawski (Diego Fagundez 66), Stephen McCarthy, Shalrie Joseph, Chris Tierney, Benny Feilhaber, Milton Caraglio (Kenny Mansally 62), Sainey Nyassi.
Substitutes Not Used: Zak Boggs, Ryan Guy, Otto Loewy, Bobby Shuttleworth.
Referee: Mark Kadlecik
Referee's Assistants: Craig Lowry; Corey Parker
4th Official: Daniel Fitzgerald
Attendance: 11,523
Time of Game: 1:55
Weather: Cloudy and 79 degrees
