Forward Edgaras Jankauskas made his first start for the Revolution, playing the full 90 minutes at forward and scoring his first goal for the club on Wednesday evening. Photo:Keith Nordstrom

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Lithuanian forward Edgaras Jankauskas scored his first goal for the New England Revolution in his first start for the club, but it wasn’t enough as Cuauhtemoc Blanco led the Chicago Fire to a 2-1 win over the Revs in a SuperLiga 2009 semifinal on Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium.

Chicago now advances to the SuperLiga 2009 title match, which it will host on Aug. 5 against the winner of the game between Mexican clubs Tigres UANL and Santos Laguna, which was played at Gillette Stadium directly after the Revolution-Fire match. Meanwhile, the Revolution’s title defense was ended in the semifinal round after advancing in this year’s tournament as the only undefeated team in the group stage. New England won SuperLiga 2008 with a thrilling victory in penalty kicks over the Houston Dynamo.

Blanco was the catalyst for the Fire, assisting on Brian McBride’s opening goal midway through the first half before scoring the game-winner on a free kick in the second half. Jankauskas scored late in the first half to level the score entering the halftime break, while Sainey Nyassi, Kenny Mansally and Kheli Dube all hit the woodwork for the Revolution, which outshot Chicago, 23-11, including 17-3 in the second half.

Chicago was presented with an early opportunity when Pat Phelan fouled Marco Pappa to the left of the box, setting up a free kick in a dangerous area in the fourth minute. Blanco put the set piece on goal with a curling effort, but it was hit straight at Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis.

The Revs responded with a bit of pressure and created their first serious chance in the 18th minute through a great piece of interplay between Steve Ralston and Mike Videira. A quick give-and-go 20 yards from goal played Ralston into the right side of the box, and his lofted cross to the back post found Jankauskas. The big Lithuanian forward rose highest, but he couldn’t direct his header down and it flew just over the bar.

Nyassi also threatened for the Revolution in the 30th minute, blasting a tight-angle shot off the left post after Videira’s clever through ball played him in on the right.

It was Chicago which finally opened the scoring in the 36th minute when McBride scored his second goal of SuperLiga 2009. Blanco received a throw-in on the left wing and fought through a trio of defenders before whipping a cross into the box. McBride wriggled free and struck a full volley from the penalty spot, expertly placing the ball inside the right post.

The game was level before halftime, however, as Jankauskas knotted the score at 1-1 in the 44th minute. Chris Tierney was the provider, playing a driven ball from the left wing into the chest of Jankauskas at the top of the box. Jankauskas brought the ball down with his first touch and used his second to blast a left-footed volley toward goal. The shot appeared to be headed inside the right post, but took a heavy deflection off Chicago midfielder John Thorrington and flew past goalkeeper Jon Busch, who was diving to save the initial shot.

The late goal gave New England the momentum entering the halftime break and the hosts almost took the lead just three minutes into the second half. Videira’s left-footed drive from 25 yards out was pushed around the post by Busch, who dove full-stretch to his right to make the save.

Despite controlling play in the early stages of the second half, the Revs went behind in the 63rd minute. Darrius Barnes was judged to have fouled McBride 20 yards from goal to create a set-piece opportunity, and Blanco made the most of the chance, curling a right-footed shot over the wall and into the upper left corner of the net.

New England responded to the deficit and almost tied the game just six minutes later in the 69th minute. Tierney’s delivery from a free kick found the head of Mansally in the box, but the Gambian’s header skimmed off the crossbar and went out for a goal kick.

The Revs again hit the woodwork in the 81st minute, this time Dube striking the crossbar on a wicked volley from a tight angle just four minutes after entering the game.

The home side had one final chance in the first minute of stoppage time, but Barnes’ free header from the penalty spot on a Mansally corner kick flew wide.

The Revolution will return to its MLS regular-season schedule on Sunday, July 19, when the club hosts Western Conference foe Chivas USA at 6 p.m. at Gillette Stadium.

New England Revolution vs. Chicago Fire
July 15, 2009 – Foxborough, Mass. (Gillette Stadium)

Scoring Summary:
CHI – Brian McBride (Cuauhtemoc Blanco) 34
NE – Edgaras Jankauskas (Chris Tierney) 44
CHI – Cuauhtemoc Blanco (unassisted) 63

New England Revolution (4-4-2): Matt Reis (GK), Chris Tierney (Kheli Dube 77), Jeff Larentowicz, Darrius Barnes, Kevin Alston, Kenny Mansally, Pat Phelan, Steve Ralston ©, Sainey Nyassi (Wells Thompson 83), Mike Videira (Nico Colaluca 67), Edgaras Jankauskas

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton (GK), Stephane Assengue, Gabriel Badilla

STATS: Shots 23; Shots on Goal 9; Saves 2; Corner Kicks 5; Offsides 1; Fouls Committed 11

Chicago Fire (4-4-2): Jon Busch (GK), Daniel Woolard, C.J. Brown ©, Bakary Soumare, Tim Ward, Marco Pappa (Mike Banner 82), John Thorrington, Baggio Husidic, Chris Rolfe (Patrick Nyarko 70), Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Brian McBride

Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Dykstra (GK), Peter Lowry, Justin Mapp, Dasan Robinson, Austin Washington

STATS: Shots 11; Shots on Goal 4; Saves 8; Corner Kicks 4; Offsides 1; Fouls Committed 11

Misconduct Summary:
NE – Pat Phelan (caution) 4
CHI – Bakary Soumare (caution) 6
CHI – Cuauhtemoc Blanco (caution) 36
CHI – Marco Pappa (caution) 80
Referee: Paul Ward
Referee’s Assistants: Nate Clement (SAR), Bill Dittmar (JAR)
Fourth Official: Lee Suckle
Time of Game: 1:55
Weather: Clear and 77 degrees
Attendance: 7,215

NOTES

• Wednesday night’s SuperLiga semifinal marked the 16th time that the Revs and Fire have met outside of MLS regular-season action, which is by far the most times the Revolution has played any opponent outside of the regular season … New England and Chicago have played 13 times in the MLS Cup Playoffs and twice in the U.S. Open Cup … the Revs are now 6-9-1 in outside competitions against the Fire.
• The Revs still haven’t beaten Chicago since the 2007 Eastern Conference championship game on Nov. 8, 2007 at Gillette Stadium … the Revolution is 0-5-2 against the Fire since the start of the 2008 season, including 0-3-1 in the regular season, 0-1-1 in the MLS Cup Playoffs and 0-1-0 in SuperLiga.
• Wednesday night’s match was the first half of a doubleheader featuring the other SuperLiga 2009 semifinal between Tigres UANL and Santos Laguna.
• New England was missing five players because of injury: Shalrie Joseph (R knee cartilage defect/bone bruising), Taylor Twellman (Disabled List: concussion), Chris Albright (L lateral meniscus surgery), Mauricio Castro (L hamstring strain) and Amaechi Igwe (L hamstring strain).
• In addition to missing five players through injury, the Revs were also without Emmanuel Osei and Jay Heaps … Osei was suspended for the match because of yellow card accumulation after receiving two cautions in the group stage, while Heaps is with the U.S. National Team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
• With Emmanuel Osei suspended, Jeff Larentowicz started alongside Darrius Barnes in the center of defense … Larentowicz last played as a defender on June 13 against Kansas City, when Osei was red-carded.
• Because they were missing seven players because of injury, suspension and international duty, the Revs were only able to dress 17 players … this was the Revolution’s 19th game in all competitions this season, and the ninth in which the club has been unable to dress the full complement of 18 players.
• Wednesday night’s loss was the Revolution’s first-ever loss in Superliga play … the Revs are now 5-1-3 in the competition after going 3-0-2 in 2008 and 2-1-1 in 2009.
• Forward Edgaras Jankauskas made his first start for the Revolution, playing the full 90 minutes at forward and scoring his first goal for the club … Jankauskas had previously made two substitute appearances in league action for the Revs.
• New England’s coaching staff wore black armbands in honor Mary Kropelin, the mother of Nick Kropelin, the Revolution’s Soccer Operations Coordinator … Mary passed away one year ago following a lengthy battle with cancer