Riley a man on the move
WASHINGTON — Revolution coach Steve Nicol’s tactical choices paid off in a 1-0 win over D.C. United in the Eastern Conference final yesterday. Nicol started James Riley in central defense, then, after the Revolution gained the lead on Taylor Twellman’s fourth-minute goal, went to a 3-5-2 alignment with Riley on the right wing.
‘‘We had no choice,’’ Nicol said of the switch from a 4-4-2 formation. ‘‘We were getting outplayed. We had six guys at the back at one stage. We settled it down and defended well in the second half.’’
The 3-5-2 alignment is theoretically a more offensive setup than the 4-4-2. But Nicol discarded the idea of a 4-5-1.
‘‘It was too early in the game to do anything like that,’’ Nicol said.
Riley saw his first action since he started Sept. 23 (1-1 tie with Kansas City), replacing Steve Ralston (calf bruise). This was the first time Riley has played central defender for the Revolution. He started 20 games during the regular season, including the opener at Los Angeles when he was at left back in a 3-4-3 alignment.
‘‘It doesn’t surprise us whatever he does,’’ Nicol said of Riley. ‘‘The kid turns up every day and trains like a demon. He showed what he could do.’’
The initial formation paired Riley with Michael Parkhurst in central defense and allowed Jay Heaps to advance into attack from right back, and Heaps started the scoring play with a ball to Pat Noonan, who crossed for Twellman’s volley.
‘‘We wanted Jay to get forward,’’ Nicol said. ‘‘And James and [Parkhurst] know each other well.’’
Though United displayed a smooth passing game, the Revolution did not feel strongly threatened except through the individual play of Christian Gomez and Jaime Moreno.
‘‘Stevie [Nicol] told us if we just kept them in front of us they were not going to be dangerous,’’ said midfielder Shalrie Joseph, who returned after a one-game suspension. ‘‘We just wanted to limit their chances.’’
One-upmanship
The Revolution are 2-2-1 (7-6 goal differential) in the deciding Eastern Conference playoff game. They played to a 3-3 tie and lost on penalty kicks to D.C. United at RFK Stadium in the 2004 final. In 2002, they tied Columbus, 2-2, to prevail in a three-game series (one win, two ties) ..... Assistant coach Paul Mariner wore a cast on his left arm to protect two broken fingers, sustained early in the second half of the Revolution’s 2-1 win over Chicago last weekend. ‘‘I hit it on the advertising boards when Taylor hit the post,’’ Mariner said. ‘‘I didn’t even know they were broken.’’ ..... About 50 Revolution supporters from the Midnight Riders group displayed signs reading: ‘‘On the 8th day Reis created God, and ‘‘Feldman — alive + well.’’ The signs referred to a dispute between Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis and United’s Alecko Eskandarian that was expanded upon by announcer Brad Feldman. Eskandarian sustained a concussion after a collision with the Revolution keeper last season and noted Reis ‘‘is dead to me.’’ D.C. fans then emulated the phrase, Feldman commented on it, and D.C. fans posted a ‘‘Feldman dead to us’’ sign for the Revolution’s 2-1 win over United Oct. 7 . Clint Dempsey (right ankle sprain) didn’t make the trip and his status for the MLS Cup is undetermined.
