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Revolution send Chivas to fourth straight loss

Jul 20, 2009 - 1:42 AM By PETER GOBIS STATS MLS Correspondent

FOXBORO, Mass. (STATS) - While New England Revolution coach Steve Nicol wants to bring back Shalrie Joseph slowly from a bruised knee, the all-MLS midfielder quickly made an impact upon his return.

Joseph assisted on Kheli Dube's go-ahead goal in the 61st minute before Steve Ralston also scored in the second half as the Revolution ended a three-match winless streak with a 2-0 victory over Chivas USA on Sunday night.

Joseph had missed the last two games due to the knee injury, and Nicol did not insert the Revolution's leading scorer into the match until the second half. But Joseph brought instant life to the offense, which had gone 302 minutes without a goal before he sprung Dube with a through ball on the right wing.

Dube sprinted past a pair of Chivas defenders and beat goalkeeper Zach Thornton with a 22-yard drive to the far left corner for his first goal since netting the game-winner in New England's season opener March 21.

"He helped us a lot holding the ball," Dube said of Joseph's controlling the midfield during the second half. "Playing with a big guy like that, he gives you opportunities."

It was also New England's first goal in MLS play since Joseph scored in the 28th minute of a 3-1 loss at Kansas City on June 13.

New England finished with 13 shots, including five on goal. With Joseph directing the offense, the Revolution placed four of their eight second-half shots on goal.

"It's a matter of just keeping possession, then moving the ball," Joseph said. "We started off flat and me coming in, it gave them (teammates) a lift."

Chivas USA (8-6-3) has scored just one goal during its current four-match losing streak and is 1-5-2 in its last eight overall.

"We played a good first half, then we let Shalrie (Joseph) come in and dominate the back line," Chivas coach Preki said. "You make a mistake or two in the second half and you lose the game -- it's so easy at this level."

Chivas is winless in its last four overall matches (0-3-1) against the Revolution and in its last five at New England (0-4-1).

Ralston capped the scoring in the 77th minute as Sasha Victorine was unable to control the ball in the penalty area before Ralston scored from 10 yards for his fifth goal of the season.

Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis notched his fourth shutout of the season, facing seven first-half corner kicks by Chivas' Mariano Trujillo and making two superb stops - punching out a right-footed drive by Victorine in the 12th minute and taking away a Carey Talley header in the 25th minute. Reis finished with three saves overall.

"The first half was garbage," added Nicol of New England's erratic play. "Everything was wrong, we didn't challenge. Coming in at nil-nil (0-0) at the half, we were glad, the way that we played."

Talley and Chivas teammates Michael Lahoud, Eduardo Lillingston and Paulo Nagamura were all given yellow cards by referee Jeff Gontarek.