Galaxy Blunders Ignite Revolution
Two defensive errors cost the Galaxy its unbeaten record Saturday evening as the New England Revolution scored a 2-1 Major League Soccer victory in front of 13,811 in Gillette Stadium at Foxboro, Mass.
Or perhaps it was one defensive error and one referee error.
The first occurred in the fourth minute, when the defense left former Galaxy player Joey Franchino unmarked at the left post and Franchino took a pass from Pat Noonan and slammed the ball past goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
Right back Chris Albright should have been aware of Franchino, but he was helping out central defenders Ryan Suarez and Tyrone Marshall and no one else picked up Franchino’s run.
Striker Taylor Twellman started the scoring play by dribbling into the box before back-heeling the ball to Noonan, thereby cutting Suarez and Marshall out of the play.
The second miscue came 27 minutes into the second half when referee Kevin Terry ruled that left back Paul Broome had knocked Steve Ralston to the turf and pointed to the penalty spot. Jose Cancela easily beat Hartman from 12 yards to all but secure the victory for the Revolution (1-2-1).
“I thought the ball was going out of bounds and I just tried to get myself between him [Ralston] and the ball,” Broome said. “I thought I got there in time and then he went down. There was a foul on the previous play that the referee missed. If he makes the right call on the foul, then that play never happens.”
Coach Sigi Schmid echoed Broome’s frustration with Terry, who gave the Galaxy five yellow cards for “reckless fouls” compared to only one for the home team.
“Overall, I wasn’t displeased with our play,” Schmid said. “I thought we carried the game to them and attacked well.... In the end, we gave up two soft goals, the first on a defensive mistake and the second on a penalty kick in the eyes of the referee.”
The Galaxy (2-1-2) could have gone in front in the third minute, but league-leading scorer Carlos Ruiz, with an open net in front of him, failed to connect on a square pass from Jovan Kirovski.
A shot by Ruiz that eluded goalkeeper Adin Brown three minutes into injury time allowed the Galaxy to avoid being shut out, Alejandro Moreno’s power slide providing the finishing touch.
“Brown was able to get his hand on the ball but it snuck through under his left arm,” Moreno said. “I just tried to get there before [defender Jay] Heaps to touch it over the line.”
-- Jones reported from Los Angeles.
