Revolution officially upset following tie

WASHINGTON -- Circumstances changed quickly in the Revolution's 1-1 tie with D.C. United last night.

Just when the Revolution appeared to be gaining control, following an Andy Dorman goal in the 46th minute, they surrendered a penalty kick and lost midfielder Shalrie Joseph to a red card in a 10-minute period. The Revolution (2-1-2, 8 points) mostly held on after that, parrying United easily until the final minute of stoppage time.

"We came out flying in the second half," Revolution forward Taylor Twellman said. "But a bad call ruins it. But it's out of our hands, we can't control some of that stuff."

The Revolution disputed calls and non-calls of referee Terry Vaughn, who struggled with positioning and control of the match. Joseph's ejection means he will be suspended for the Revolution's game against Chicago Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

But D.C. United (0-3-1, 1 point) also has struggled this season and is clearly performing below the level of recent years. Jaime Moreno, United's all-time leading scorer, did not enter the match until the second half, then made an immediate impact.

In the first minute of the second half, Twellman slipped past Facundo Erpen to one-time Joseph's lob. Goalkeeper Troy Perkins stopped the shot, but Dorman followed into an open net. Moreno volleyed a shot with his first touch in the 48th minute, then earned a penalty a minute later in a clash with James Riley, tying the game as goalkeeper Matt Reis dived right on the kick. Moreno and Riley collided just before Reis collected a long ball in the penalty area, Vaughn running about 40 yards to point to the penalty spot.

In the 59th minute, Vaughn red-carded Joseph, who appeared to have played the ball in a clash with Ben Olsen.

United did not capitalize on the man advantage. But D.C. did regain control of the tempo, retaining possession for long stretches and keeping the Revolution on the defensive. Reis maintained command of the goal area, but the Revolution were clearly tiring in the late going as Joe Franchino made his season debut as an 87th-minute substitute for Adam Cristman. Franchino, the Revolution captain since 2002, had taken an indefinite leave of absence while the team was in New Orleans on a late March preseason tour and had returned to the team Tuesday.

And in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Olsen hit the crossbar off a corner kick and Christian Gomez's sharp header was saved by Reis.

"In the second half, we looked dangerous," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "We scored a great goal and were looking forward to continuing, but through no fault of our own we were denied that chance."

United controlled possession for most of the first half, but seldom threatened, unless defenders Erpen or Bryan Namoff joined the attack. Reis tipped a Gomez shot over the bar in the 27th minute, following a quickly taken free kick that earned United a corner. And United limited Twellman's chances, though he did appear to have been felled in the penalty area while going for a Khano Smith cross. Twellman also broke loose for a header off a Dorman cross, his attempt going directly at Perkins.

"We wanted to pressure them a little more in the second half," Dorman said. "And we did that for the first 10 minutes, before decisions started to go against us. In the first half, we didn't keep the ball, and in the second half, we wanted to make up for that. We put them under pressure until the referee started making some strange decisions.

"My goal was a tap-in, really. But I had a good chance after that, which I should have done better with, and that would have killed the game. After Shalrie had to go off, it was hard work for the last half-hour. We just had to dig in."

Frank Dell'Apa can be reached at f_dellapa@globe.com.