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Brad Knighton had a tough night starting in place of the injured Matt Reis. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com) |
“We are proud of our players tonight,” said head coach Steve Nicol. “To go down a man so early after giving a goal away and then come back the way we did. You know at one stage at 3-2, we looked as though we might get something from the game.”
The Revolution, heading into the match on a three-game winning streak, made a couple of changes to the lineup with starting keeper Matt Reis out due to a knee injury. Brad Knighton got the start in goal. Nicol also opted to start Edgaras Jankauskas, who had been out with a left adductor strain since Aug. 20, over Kheli Dube.
Kansas City took the lead in just the third minute. A long ball was misplayed by Darius Barnes. His initial header went right to a Kansas City forward and after winning it back, his deflected clearance went right to a wide open Claudio Lopez. The 35-year old Argentinean midfielder dribbled into the box before slotting a shot past Knighton to give the Wizards a 1-0 lead.
“That’s definitely not the way we want to start a game,” said Knighton. “You prep all week for a game trying to get ready for it. We knew they were going to come out firing because they had to win this game. They have to win games to get in the playoffs, so we knew they were going to come out firing. We just knew we had to match that and unfortunately we were unable to do that tonight and they capitalized on it in the first 20 minutes.”
Jankauskas had a chance in the 17th minute when a cross was misplayed by Jimmy Conrad and fell in the box to Kevin Alston. Alston headed it to a wide open Jankauskas and the Lithuanian striker directed a side-footed volley on frame. His effort, however, was denied by an onrushing Kevin Hartman.
Joseph was ejected in the 23rd minute for a challenge on Jack Jewsbury. Joseph missed the ball and may have caught Jewsbury in the knee.
“We were down 1-0, we conceded an early goal, but we still felt we could come back and easily win this game,” said captain Steve Ralston. “When you go down a man, for the third time against this team this year, it’s tough to come back and we did. We kept fighting back. We made a few adjustments. We showed some character and got back into the game.”
Five minutes later the Revs were put in a bigger hole when Lopez got free in the left side of the box and sent in a low cross in front of goal. His effort was cleared by Emmanuel Osei, but deflected off Wizards striker Josh Wolff and then off Revs defender Jay Heaps before going into the empty net.
Already down two goals, Nicol made a change, brining on Pat Phelan for Mauricio Castro for a slightly more defensive formation. Phelan took over in the center of the midfield with Ralston moving to the right and Wells Thompson to the left.
Jankauskas brought the Revs back within one in the 64th minute. A poorly cleared ball fell right to the 34-year old striker about 25 yards from goal and he powered a volley on frame. His effort beat Hartman and landed just inside the far post for his second career MLS goal.
“I was a little bit lucky,” said Jankauskas. “What can I say? The ball dropped there and I took a shot on the goal. Of course it’s not like every time you shoot from that range the ball goes in. I think the more important thing was as a team we showed character in the second half. One man down, we never gave up. We fought till the end and we could have taken something from that game. Unfortunately we didn’t. Well, that’s soccer.”
Knighton made a huge save in the 69th minute. Lopez beat the Revolution defense to a nice through ball and blasted a shot on frame. Knighton came quickly off his line and made himself big to block the shot.
Lopez made it 3-1 in the 73rd minute. Wolff got down the right flank quickly on a counter-attack and then found Lopez making a run into the box in front of two defenders. Lopez touched it around Knighton and then slotted it into the empty net.
“I went down and I just didn’t get all of it,” said Knighton. “I’ll take that one on me. I just got to come out stronger. We met at the same time at the ball, but it somehow just slipped through me. That one is mine and he put it in the top corner and finished his chance. All the credit to him.”
The Revs came back within one in the 82nd minute when Sainey Nyassi used his pace to get free down the right flank and then sent a hard, driven cross into the box. Dube, a substitute, got in front of the defense and directed a header past Hartman to make it 3-2.
“It was a great cross from Sainey,” said Dube. “The ball was over the defender and I just made contact and got a goal. It’s all about the good cross from Sainey.”
The Revolution had a shout for a penalty in the 89th minute when a Dube shot from the top of the box was blocked by the arms of a Kansas City defender. Referee Jansen Anno waved off the protests.
Wolff clinched the victory in second half stoppage time on a quick counter attack. Wolff got the ball from Chance Myers and used his speed to get through on goal before slotting it past Knighton to give the Wizards a 4-2 lead and complete the scoring.
The Revolution (9-7-6), next head to Los Angeles, where they will face Chivas USA Sunday, Sept. 13 in a battle of two teams currently with 33 points in the standings.
“You just have to keep working hard and try to win the next game,” said Dube. “Right now it’s important to get three points every game, so we are just going to try and get three points from Chivas.”
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