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Twellman's return buoys Revolution

May 11, 2008 - 10:53 PM CARSON, California (Ticker) -- Kenny Mansally and Taylor Twellman scored goals to lift the New England Revolution to a 2-1 victory over Chivas USA on Sunday.

New England's two goals matched its offensive output of the previous four games, in which it went 1-2-1, including a 3-0 drubbing at home to the Chicago Fire last weekend.

With Claudio Suarez sitting out after picking up a red card in the last match and two other defenders missing with injuries, Chivas could not contain the visitors, who won here for the first time in four career meetings.

"You know that we had to scramble today to put together a back line," Chivas coach Preki said. "We did a decent job. We didn't give to many things away.

"There was a couple of breakdowns and we paid for it."

Mansally got the Revolution (4-3-1) on the board in the 18th minute and Twellman, seeing his first action of the season, doubled the margin in the 59th minute.

Justin Braun scored in the 93rd minute to avert a shutout for Chivas, (1-4-2), which ran its winless streak to five matches.

"I feel that we've been a bit dull in the final third of the field," New England coach Steve Nicol said. "Today I think we created some good goals on combination play and some other opportunities."

Twellman, the third-leading scorer in MLS with 16 goals last season, has been sidelined since undergoing knee surgery on April 2. He has registered 91 goals in his previous six seasons.

Midfielder Steve Ralston assisted on the tally by Twellman. Ralston returned to action last week for the first time since he was injured in the team's season opener.

On Mansally's goal, he took a long pass from Jeff Larentowicz and slipped a low shot past goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

"I felt I could take advantage of their defenders because of their speed so I positioned myself where I could exploit that by waiting for a through pass," Mansally said. "It was a great opportunity for me and I'm happy to have scored."

Entering as a substitute for Mansally - who has a nagging ankle injury - at the start of the second half, Twellman needed just 14 minutes to score his first goal of the season, converting a nice feed from Ralston.

Twellman nearly had a second goal midway through the half, but his header sailed over the crossbar. He also shot wide in the waning stages of the match.

"I think we could have scored more but I'm happy with the result," Nicol said. "New England has set a standard for themselves and it's not easy to maintain it's always difficult to maintain a flow with players coming in and out."

Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis did not have to make a save. Chivas' only official shot was Braun's goal, which came off a centering pass from Maykel Galindo.

Guzan made three saves for Chivas, which now trails the all-time series, 3-2-2.