Real Salt Lake Grabs Point from 2-2 Draw at New England
Published on October 4, 2008 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston scored late goals just two minutes apart as the New England Revolution fought back from a two-goal deficit to tie Real Salt Lake 2-2 at Gillette Stadium. Javier Morales inspired RSL in its playoff search with a first-half goal and a second-half assist on Andy Williams' screamer of a volley. As RSL looked to have sealed its first back-to-back wins of the season, Twellman and Ralston popped up with late goals to snare a share of the spoils.
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol chucked the 4-4-2 formation and returned to a more familiar 3-5-2 system. Gabriel Badilla had to settle for a place on the bench. Khano Smith returned from a hamstring injury to replace Mauricio Castro on the left wing. Kheli Dube earned his first start in over two months in place of Kenny Mansally.
Jason Kreis made two changes to the team that won 3-2 in San Jose last weekend. With Jamison Olave out through suspension, Robbie Russell shifted to the center of the Real Salt Lake defense from his midfield berth. Andy Williams earned a recall on the right side of midfield to fill Russell's vacated spot.
The visitors started the better of the two sides with high pressure in midfield disrupting the Revolution's fluency in midfield. Yura Movsisyan shoots on contact these days with his confidence surging. His left-footed curler forced the best out of Matt Reis inside the first five minutes.
RSL had the majority of the ball in the opening stages, holding in midfield as the Revs sat back and allowed the visitors plenty of possession.
It was no surprise that RSL opened the scoring after 15 minutes, but Nicol will be fuming at the manner it was conceded. Russell's Route One service went straight down the center of the field. Movsisyan contested with Reis failing to deal with the service. Reis cleared weakly to Morales, who settled and chipped over Michael Parkhurst and into the vacated net to give RSL the lead.
The pace of the match slowed considerably as RSL was willing to soak up pressure when it lost possession. But most of the play came in RSL's offensive half as the Revs sat off as the visitors remained on the front foot and New England struggled to stretch out the compact RSL shape.
Williams popped up five minutes before the break with a header just over the bar as RSL continued to threaten as the match dragged into halftime.
New England upped the tempo after the break. Kyle Beckerman presented Kheli Dube with a chance after a needless turnover, but Dube fired over the bar. Shalrie Joseph nodded down and Chris Albright couldn't keep his header down.
RSL appeared to plunge the dagger into the Revs and it was former midfielder Williams who inflicted the pain. Morales chipped a ball wide on the counterattack and Williams struck it first time with his right foot into the upper left corner in the 73rd minute.
But two goals in four minutes dragged the Revs level just when it seemed the points had escaped.
Steve Ralston didn't have much of the ball in this game, but he managed to collect a poor clearance from Nat Borchers and fire home to throw the Revs a lineline after 77 minutes.
And Taylor Twellman brought the Revs level in the 79th after he collected on the edge of the box and fired past a slow-to-react Rimando.
RSL substitute Kenny Deuchar wasted two chances in the final 10 minutes, once denied by Reis and one pushing his effort wide with only Reis to beat after Robbie Findley played him into the area.
Williams drew red from referee Baldomero Toledo in stoppage time with a cynical challenge on Jay Heaps. Borchers then redeemed himself by clearing Twellman's goalbound header off the line just before the final whistle.
Major League Soccer Stories from October 4, 2008
- Real Salt Lake Grabs Point from 2-2 Draw at New England - Real Salt Lake
- Chivas earn 3-0 win over the D.C. United - Club Deportivo Chivas USA
- Revs score two goals in final 15 minutes to earn come-from-behind draw - New England Revolution
- Third Straight Loss For New York - New York Red Bulls
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