The New England Revolution pulled off a shock 3-1 result over the LA Galaxy in Carson, California on Saturday night. The victory broke a West Coast winless streak that stretched back to September 2009, and earned the Revs back-to-back wins, an occurrence that had become depressingly rare in the past few seasons.
The Galaxy were missing USA international Landon Donovan and appeared to miss him dearly, struggling to get much offense going from the run of play until later in the match when New England was defending a comfortable lead. The Revs, meanwhile, were without premier playmaker Benny Feilhaber, but did not appear to miss him as they produced an offensive explosion that tripled their scoring output in their three 2012 MLS matches previous to Saturday.
Kelyn Rowe opened the scoring in just the 10th minute, getting on the end of a great Shalrie Joseph cross at the far post and burying his own rebound. Rowe looked good all match, and actually set up the opportunity initially by playing an excellent ball out of midfield to Lee Nguyen which led to the throw-in that led to Joseph's cross.
Just three minutes later, it was defender Chris Tierney who added his own name to the scoresheet, taking a feed from fellow fullback Kevin Alston. Alston played a one-two with Joseph that released him to the byline in the area, and his low drag-back trickled all the way to Tierney at the far post. Tierney is usually known for his service rather than his scoring prowess, but nevertheless he tucked the opportunity away and doubled the Revs' lead.
New England played well with the lead and carried it into the second half, where Saer Sene sounded the Galaxy's death knell. Ryan Guy received the ball out on the right and wriggled his way out of trouble with some slick dribbling before lofting a cross toward the center of the penalty area. Sene rose up between two defenders and nodded home for his second goal in as many games.
Robbie Keane managed to pull back a consolation goal for the hosts. Edson Buddle played a gorgeous through-pass from midfield that slashed the Revolution defense to ribbons, allowing Keane to run between Stephen McCarthy and A.J. Soares. Keane faced down Matt Reis and rounded him before finishing coolly. The goal raised the specter of a Galaxy comeback, but it was not on the cards as the Revs managed to close out the win and improve to 2-2-0 on the season.
New England will be in action again on Thursday against FC Dallas in Texas. Visit our team page and blog, The Bent Musket, for further Revolution coverage.