Jun 13, 2008 - 12:41 AM
0 shoutsBy Jeremy Rakes PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
HOUSTON (Ticker) -- The two-time defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo cannot defeat the New England Revolution in the regular season.
Kheli Dube had a goal and added an assist as New England recorded a 2-0 triumph over Houston on Thursday night at Robertson Stadium in a rematch of the MLS Cup championship game for the last two years.
Steve Ralston also tallied and Matt Reis made five saves to post his fifth shutout of the season for New England (8-3-2), which improved to 5-0-1 in its last six games to match the Columbus Crew for the longest unbeaten streak in MLS this season. With the victory, the Revolution increased their lead in the Eastern Conference to seven points over Columbus and the Chicago Fire.
"We've done it, (but) not in glamorous fashion sometimes," Reis said. "We've been effective at times, gotten timely goals, played well on the road. I don't think anyone is going to take the tape of this game, and put it as one of the best played soccer games, but we are effective on the road. We won 2-0, and we're very, very happy with that."
Houston (4-4-5) lost for the first time in three games and remains tied in first place in the Western Conference with Los Angeles.
Ralston opened the scoring in the eighth minute. Off a throw-in, Dube got behind the Houston defense and crossed it through the area by goalkeeper Tony Caig. Ralston one-timed it for an easy goal - his second in as many games.
"It's just kind of a situation where you look for your teammate, because I was in a tight space," Dube said. "Just look for your teammate and Ralston made a good run, so I kicked it to him."
Dube doubled the Revolution's advantage in the 35th minute after accepting a feed from Mauricio Castro and blasting it off Caig's shoulder and into the net.
Houston had a penalty kick in the 81st minute after Franco Caraccio was pulled down in the box by Michael Parkhurst, but Stuart Holden's attempt was denied by Reis.
"I was happy to get the three points," New England coach Steve Nicol said. "That save by Matt Reis on the penalty kick was huge. We still had 10 minutes to play. The decision to give the penalty was a complete disgrace.
"I thought the defending was good. Every single one stood out strong and got it done."
Houston fell to 0-3-3 in the regular season against New England, but the Dynamo have beaten the Revolution in a pair of title matches. Houston posted a 2-1 triumph last season and won on penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 tie after 120 minutes in 2006.
"I think it's disappointing anytime you lose, especially when with the goals we gave up tonight and them being soft," Houston Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said. "And they scored when we didn't defend particularly well. Other than those two instances, I thought we were OK.
"We didn't create tons of chances tonight, but we got some good looks at the goal. We ran out of steam a little bit, and we got a gift by the referee on the penalty and we could not convert it. That is just the way the night was."
The Dynamo were playing the game without midfielder Dwayne De Rosario and goalkeeper Pat Onstad, who were playing in a friendly for Canada as well as forward Brian Ching, who is with the United States national team.
New England played without Kenny Mansally (Gambia), Shalrie Joseph (Grenada) and Khano Smith (Bermuda), who were all playing with their respective national teams.
From the Bleachers
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NEW ENGLAND: 2
HOUSTON: 0
Final
Jun 12 11:43 PM -
NEW ENGLAND: 2
HOUSTON: 0
Final
Jun 12 11:19 PM -
NEW ENGLAND: 2
HOUSTON: 0
End of 1st
Jun 12 10:13 PM -
MLS UPDATE
NEW ENGLAND 2
HOUSTON 0
NEW ENGLAND GOAL: Kheli Dube in the 35th minute
Jun 12 10:02 PM -
MLS UPDATE
NEW ENGLAND 1
HOUSTON 0
NEW ENGLAND GOAL: Steve Ralston in the 8th minute
Jun 12 9:35 PM
