One game, 100 words or less: Coming into Gillette Stadium with a 0-13-7 record in their last 20 matches at that venue, the NY Red Bulls bucked the trend and locked down the East-leading New England Revolution for a 2-0 win. Their last win there came as the MetroStars. Oddly enough, the milestone came without Thierry Henry, and without Tim Cahill, as Luis Robles starred with 10 saves and the pair of Eric Alexander and Peguy Luyindula scored for the win.
Three moments that mattered:
1. 1′ The Revs set the tone early, 30 seconds in Patrick Mullins took aim and fired from outside the box, but Robles was up to the task, setting himself up for a fantastic match. He made big stops in the first half on three other occasions.
2. 17′ New York struck first against the run of play as a long free kick crossed the face of goal and sucked out goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth, but he ran into traffic and Alexander climbed the ladder to head it in the empty net.
3. 71′ More brilliant keeping by Robles as he went full-stretch to keep out his own player Ibrahim Sekagya, who lost the ball on a free kick and nearly put it in his own net. The save proved it just wasn’t New England’s day in front of goal.
Three lessons going forward:
1. New York is officially back – Without their stars and on a four-match winless streak where they found just about every possible way to blow games, they found a way to defend like a brick wall in the final third and the goalkeeper had a day.
2. What goes up must come down – We knew New England wouldn’t win ’em all, but two losses in a row is tough for New England. They still can take plenty of positives out of today, when they simply ran into some bad luck and a goalkeeper on a career day. Still a very dangerous team.
3. The Ewing Theory lives – The less-is-more reared its head with Cahill and Henry out, but they’ll need to persevere if they can keep this momentum and not prove this a one-off.
Where this leaves them:
- The Revs are still in good shape, a point atop the East with a game in hand, but they’ve lost two in a row and are coming crashing down to earth.
- New York picked up a much-needed three points, picking them up from 8th to 5th, and are just five points off the top spot in the crowded Eastern Conference.
