Untitled Document

HARRISON, N.J. – Zak Boggs scored his first goal of the season early in the second half and the New England Revolution bombarded the New York Red Bulls’ net with a season-high 12 shots, but it wasn’t enough to erase a two-goal deficit as the Revs suffered a 2-1 loss to the Red Bulls on Friday night at Red Bull Arena.

New York took a one-goal lead into the halftime break after Ryan Cochrane scored an own goal in the 37th minute, while the hosts doubled their advantage in the 50th minute when Thierry Henry notched his team-leading seventh goal of the season. Boggs pulled one back for the Revs almost immediately in the 54th minute, but a furious late fight-back – including an apparent Rajko Lekic goal which was correctly called back for offside – couldn’t produce an equalizer.

Shalrie Joseph had a penalty kick saved by Red Bulls goalkeeper Greg Sutton in the 34th minute when the game was still scoreless.

New York (5-2-7, 22 pts.) snapped a six-game winless skid with the victory and vaulted into first place in the Eastern Conference standings. The loss was the Revolution’s (3-7-4, 13 pts.) fourth straight, all by one-goal margins.

There was one change to the Revolution lineup which suffered a 1-0 loss to FC Dallas last weekend at Pizza Hut Park, Pat Phelan replacing rookie Stephen McCarthy in central midfield. Benny Feilhaber missed his second straight game while recovering from a right ankle sprain, while it was recently announced that Marko Perovic (L knee surgery) will be out for the rest of the 2011 season.

New York was missing five players because of international duty, as Juan Agudelo (United States), Dwayne De Rosario (Canada), Rafa Marquez (Mexico), Tim Ream (United States) and Dane Richards (Jamaica) were all unavailable while participating in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The Red Bulls threatened just 20 seconds after the opening whistle when Mehdi Ballouchy sent Luke Rodgers into the right side of the box, but Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis charged off his line to force Rodgers to poke his shot wide of the near post. Rodgers was almost in on goal again in the seventh minute when Henry slipped a clever pass into to the box, but A.J. Soares excellently cleared the danger with a last-ditch tackle.

New England returned the pressure in the 17th minute, nearly capitalizing from a set piece near midfield. Chris Tierney curled a long cross to the back post, where Phelan made contact with a lunging effort but could only push his shot across the face of goal.

The Revs had a golden chance to take the lead in the 34th minute when Lekic was pulled down in the box by defender Stephen Keel as he attempted to run onto Tierney’s left-wing cross. Sutton denied Joseph’s attempt from the spot, however, diving to his left to make a strong one-handed save.

The visitors were left to rue their missed opportunity just three minutes later when the Red Bulls took a 1-0 lead. Henry burst into the right side of the box and played a low, hard pass across the face of goal which the unfortunate Cochrane directed into his own net from six yards out.

Rodgers almost doubled New York’s advantage in the 43rd minute when he found himself with another good look inside the box, but again his effort skittered wide of the right post.

It didn’t take the Red Bulls long to find their second goal following the halftime break, however, as Henry made it 2-0 in the 50th minute. After being played down the left wing by Keel, Henry used a quick cutback to shake Cochrane inside the box before finishing low into the far corner.

The Revs responded almost immediately, cutting the deficit to 2-1 when Boggs collected his third career goal in the 54th minute. Tierney picked out Boggs at the back post with a curling left-wing cross, which Boggs settled with his right thigh before blasting his effort inside the far post.

It was almost level five minutes later when second-half substitute Kenny Mansally – whose entrance signified a shift to a 4-4-2 formation – had the top corner picked out from distance, but Sutton made a sprawling save to tip the ball over the crossbar. McCarthy also had a quality chance from the ensuing corner kick but drilled a full volley wide of the right post.

Mansally was in the thick of the action again in the 72nd minute when he pounced on a misplayed back pass to break in alone on goal. The Gambian attempted to slot a left-footed shot under Sutton, but didn’t make solid contact and his effort squirted wide.

Ballouchy had a quality chance for the Red Bulls at the other end of the field in the 74th minute as the end-to-end action continued, but Reis got down well to his left to make the save. Three minutes later Ballouchy had a chance to tap home from close range after being set up by Henry, but missed wide right.
The Revs thought they had their equalizer in the 87th minute when Sainey Nyassi found Lekic at the back post and the Danish striker buried a close-range header, but the linesman’s flag went up for offside and New England’s comeback ultimately fell short.

After opening the month of June with back-to-back road games, the Revs will now return to Gillette Stadium for consecutive home games next week. New England’s brief two-game homestand begins on Wednesday, June 15, when Eastern Conference foe Toronto FC visits Foxborough for an 8 p.m. kickoff.

New England Revolution at New York Red Bulls
June 10, 2011 – Red Bull Arena (Harrison, N.J.)
New York Red Bulls 2, New England Revolution 1

Scoring Summary:
NYRB – Own goal (Ryan Cochrane) 37
NYRB – Thierry Henry (Stephen Keel) 50
NE – Zak Boggs (Chris Tierney, Didier Domi) 54

New England Revolution: Matt Reis, Didier Domi, A.J. Soares, Ryan Cochrane, Kevin Alston, Chris Tierney, Ousmane Dabo (Stephen McCarthy 20), Shalrie Joseph(c), Pat Phelan (Kenny Mansally 56), Zak Boggs (Sainey Nyassi 85), Rajko Lekic

Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Shuttleworth, Franco Coria, Kheli Dube, Darrius Barnes

STATS: Shots: 12; Shots on Goal: 3; Saves: 5; Corner Kicks: 4; Offside: 3; Fouls Committed: 13  

New York Red Bulls: Greg Sutton, Roy Miller, Stephen Keel, Carlos Mendes, Jan Gunnar Solli, Austin da Luz (John Rooney 84), Joel Lindpere, Teemu Tainio, Mehdi Ballouchy, Luke Rodgers (Corey Hertzog 65), Thierry Henry (c)

Substitutes Not Used: Bouna Coundoul, Sacir Hot, Tyler Lassiter, Teddy Schneider, Matt Kassel

STATS: Shots: 12; Shots on Goal: 6; Saves: 2; Corner Kicks: 3; Offside: 3; Fouls Committed: 16    
* Note that all statistics are unofficial

Misconduct Summary:
NYRB – Stephen Keel (caution) 33
NYRB – Mehdi Ballouchy (caution) 57

Team Records:
New England Revolution – 3-7-4, 13 pts.
New York Red Bulls – 5-2-7, 22 pts.

Referee: Terry Vaughn
Assistant Referees: Fabio Tovar, Ian Anderson
Fourth Official: Juan Guzman
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 80 degrees
Attendance: 21,201

NOTES

• With the loss, the Revs fell to 25-18-11 overall against New York
• The loss was the team’s second in a row after going 14 straight regular-season matches undefeated against the Red Bulls since 2005
• The Revs now remain winless at Red Bull Arena, going 0-2-0 in regular-season action and 0-3-0 overall since the facility opened in 2010
• Shalrie Joseph’s missed penalty kick attempt was his first miss since the 2008 season … he had converted his last four attempts, including two previous attempts this season
• Ryan Cochrane’s own goal in the 37th minute was the team’s first surrendered own goal since May 8, 2010, when Cory Gibbs scored an own goal at Columbus in a 3-2 loss
• The Revs and Red Bulls also saw an own goal scored in a meeting in 2010, when then rookie defender Tim Ream scored an own goal to give the Revs a 2-1 lead at Gillette Stadium on May 29
• With New York credited with a first-half goal, tonight marked the first time in six games that the match was not scoreless at the half … the last Revs game in which there was a halftime score was the April 30 match at Chivas USA when it was 2-0, Chivas USA, at the halftime intermission
• Pat Phelan started his first match since the April 9 Real Salt Lake match at Gillette Stadium
• Zak Boggs’ goal was his first of the 2011 season … it was the third goal of his career and his first since May 8, 2010, when he scored two goals at Columbus in a 3-2 loss
• Zak Boggs’ goal snapped the Revolution’s 601-minute streak without a goal being scored from the run of play
• Prior to Zak Boggs’ goal tonight, New England’s last goal from the run of play came in the 83rd minute on April 23 from Rajko Lekic in a 3-2 win at home against Sporting Kansas City …
• The Revs had scored twice in games since April 23, but one goal was a penalty kick (Shalrie Joseph vs. Vancouver on May 14) and one goal came directly from a free kick (Chris Tierney at San Jose on May 21)
• Boggs’ goal also snapped a 168-minute scoreless streak overall, with the team’s last goal coming in the 86th minute at San Jose on May 21 from Chris Tierney’s free kick
• Chris Tierney recorded his first assist of the 2011 season with his helper on Zak Boggs’ goal … it was his eighth career assist and his first since Oct. 16, 2010, when he assisted on Shalrie Joseph’s game-winning goal against Kansas City
• Didier Domi recorded his first assist in MLS with his helper on Zak Boggs’ goal
• When Kenny Mansally came on as a substitute for Pat Phelan in the 56th minute, the Revs switched to a 4-4-2 alignment with Mansally up  top with Rajko Lekic
• Matt Reis suffered just his third loss against New York as a member of the Revs … he is now 11-3-7 in 21 career regular-season meetings against the Red Bulls