It was not pretty at times, but a second half penalty from Shalrie Joseph was enough to give New England all three points against a game Vancouver side tonight at Gillette Stadium..
With the win, the Revs move to 3-3-4 and 13 points while the Whitecaps fall to 1-5-5 and 8 points.
First Half
The first half ended scoreless in what was a pretty drab affair to be honest. Vancouver looked the most dangerous going forward early, especially out wide with Salinas and Teibert.
New England midfield trio of McCarthy, Feilhaber and Joseph had a hard time gaining control of the game and that let Vancouver gain confidence as the half progressed.
The highlight of the first half was an effort from Omar Salgado who with one touch, falling over, still managed to get power on the shot from outside the area and force Matt Reis into a good save. Easy to see why he was the 1st pick in the MLS Draft.
Second Half
New England started the second half much more positive and in the 49th minute Benny Feilhaber was brought down in the box by Knight and joseph scored from the spot.
Revs almost made it 2-0 in the 55th minute when Feilhaber was put through with a great ball by Lekic and scored with a delightful chip but it was pulled back for offside. A very close decision to put it kindly.
Vancouver then went close to scoring in the 69th minute when Salgado climbed well to meet Wagner’s cross, but Reis did really well to push the header onto the post and out for a corner. Salgado is the real deal and will be a star in this league in a couple of years.
In the 81st minute Nyassi had a great run and shot but Whitecaps keeper Jay Nolly made a really good save to keep the Whitecaps in the game.
88th minute and Whitecaps almost got an equalizer. Good cross from Salinas found Tan relatively unmarked at the back post but his weak volley was saved by Reis.
Overall a much better second half performance by New England as their midfield finally got control of the middle of the park. Vancouver will feel that they could have easily picked up a point here, but let it get away.
