DC steals points from Revolution
Own goal leads to 1-0 win for United at Gillette Stadium
Revolution defender Brian Kamler turned a low cross into his own goal after just five minutes, then in the second half, Twellman saw his goal-scoring drought when he pushed his penalty wide though United rookie goalkeeper Troy Perkins guessed correctly with his dive.
Things went from bad to worse for the New England striker later in the match when he was taken from the field with a strained right hamstring. He was diagnosed after the game, and his status will be re-evaluated by the team's medical staff within the next two days.
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But they received a dose of good fortune just a few minutes later. A cross-field pass that should have been dealt with by Revolution defender Marshall Leonard fell to Earnie Stewart on the right flank, and he sent in a low uncontested cross. But Kamler left his goalkeeper helpless when he turned the ball into his own goal from close range.
Twellman, who hasn't scored a goal for the Revolution since April 17, the longest such stretch in his career, almost put the home side on the board in the seventh minute. He played a clever give-and-go with strike-partner Pat Noonan before nutmegging defender Mike Petke, but his shot rolled wide.
Rookie sensation Freddy Adu made a darting run into the Revolution box in the 18th minute after collecting a pass from Bobby Convey, who returned to action after missing three games with a left hamstring injury. But Adu's shot from a tight angle on the left side, was smothered by Reis.
Adu then had a second chance 10 minutes later on the counter, again created by Convey, but his 20-yard shot skipped harmlessly past the right post. New England's best chance of the half came through rookie midfielder Clint Dempsey, who got up well for a clear header on a Jose Cancela freekick from the left, but his shot went over the bar.
United nearly went into the locker room with a two-goal advantage after they almost capitalized on a mistake by the Revolution defense, Stewart winning possession before finding Olsen with a quick pass, but his shot didn't have enough pace to beat Reis.
Five minutes after the break New England had a golden opportunity to draw level. Steve Ralston raced into the area and second-half sub David Stokes stepped in front of him and forced him to the ground, leaving referee Kevin Terry no choice but to point to the spot.
Twellman took on the responsibility of the penalty kick and struck a good effort, but Perkins flung himself to his left and would have had the shot covered had it not clipped the outside of the post as it sailed wide.
Perkins again denied Twellman at the 60-minute mark with a shot from outside the area to preserve the clean sheet. By the end of his night, he saw his scoreless streak extended to 561 minutes.
Twellman's misery was then compounded when he limped off the field with a hamstring injury midway through the second half, trying to chase down a ball deep in United territory when he came up lame and grasped his right leg.
Gros, who scored his first professional goal last Saturday, almost added to his MLS account in the 72nd minute. A streaking run by second-half sub Alecko Eskandarian created the chance, but Gros' strike to the near post was knocked away by Reis for a corner kick.
The Revolution had one final quality chance and it again fell to Dempsey, off a knockdown header from Noonan, but his attempt sailed into the outside of the goal, and United escaped with their first victory on their travels this season, coming back after losing twice in four days last week.
United will be on the road again next week when they travel to take on the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field Saturday at 4 p.m. ET (ESPN2). The Revolution have a mid-week game at Kansas City on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET and will be back at Gillette Stadium next Sunday to host the Columbus Crew (4 p.m. ET).
MLSnet.com Man of the Match: Troy Perkins (D.C. United)
D.C. United (3-4-3) vs. New England Revolution (1-4-3)
May 29, 2004 -- Gillette Stadium
Scoring Summary:
DC -- own goal (Brian Kamler) 5
D.C. United -- Troy Perkins, Brandon Prideaux, Bobby Convey (Kevin Ara 89), Mike Petke, Bryan Namoff (David Stokes 46), Earnie Stewart, Brian Carroll, Ben Olsen, Joshua Gros, Freddy Adu (Alecko Eskandarian 56), Ronald Cerritos.
Substitutes Not Used: Eliseo Quintanilla, Nick Rimando.
TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Ronald Cerritos 3, Ben Olsen 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Ben Olsen 2); FOULS: 28 (Joshua Gros 6); OFFSIDES: 4 (Ronald Cerritos 2); CORNER KICKS: 4 (Brian Carroll 2); SAVES: 1 (Troy Perkins 1)
New England Revolution -- Matt Reis, Jay Heaps, Shalrie Joseph, Brian Kamler, Marshall Leonard, Steve Ralston, Clint Dempsey, Joe Franchino, Jose Cancela (Felix Brillant 46), Taylor Twellman (Andy Dorman 70), Pat Noonan.
Substitutes Not Used: Richie Baker, Adin Brown, Avery John, Luke Vercollone.
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Taylor Twellman 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 1 (Taylor Twellman 1); FOULS: 12 (Clint Dempsey 3, Marshall Leonard 3); OFFSIDES: 3 (Taylor Twellman 2); CORNER KICKS: 6 (Steve Ralston 4); SAVES: 5 (Matt Reis 5)
Misconduct Summary:
NE -- Shalrie Joseph (caution; Reckless Foul) 12
DC -- Brian Carroll (caution; Tackle from Behind) 32
DC -- Joshua Gros (caution; Tackle from Behind) 38
Referee: Kevin Terry
Referee's Assistants: -Greg Barkey; George Gansner
4th Official: Gus St. Silva
Attendance: 19,314
Time of Game: 1:52
Weather: Sunny-and-59-degrees
All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial.
