Welcome win worth wait

Revolution score late, trip Santos

The Revolution's Sainey Nyassi (right) and Santos Laguna's Osmar Mares fight for possession during the first half. (Stephan Savoia/Associated Press)

FOXBOROUGH - It was like Revolution midfielder Sainey Nyassi had a magnet on him that attracted everything from attention to an elbow. Wherever No. 31 was, a Santos Laguna player was close behind.

In a match with only one goal, Nyassi found himself in the middle of two critical plays that eventually led to the Revolution taking a 1-0 victory against Santos in group play of the SuperLiga tournament in front of 10,118 fans at Gillette Stadium last night.

In the first half, Santos midfielder Juan Pablo Rodriguez threw an elbow that knocked Nyassi to the ground in the 40th minute. Rodriguez was handed a red card on the play that Nyassi later called "terrible." It left Santos down a man the rest of the match.

If Santos wanted to take Nyassi out of the game, the plan didn't work. In the second half, Nyassi sprinted toward the right corner and sent a pass to Steve Ralston, waiting in clear view of the goal. The pass came too hard for Ralston to take a shot, so he lightly tapped it behind him to Kheli Dube, who sent the ball to the corner of the goal past keeper Oswaldo Sanchez in the 70th minute.

The Revolution were unsure of what to expect from Santos in their first meeting. Their style of play did not take New England by surprise, defender Michael Parkhurst said.

"It's just a little higher quality," he said. "Everybody is good on the ball. They can play out every little situation. You just really have to be sharp."

Fans were treated to the Revolution's first international match at Gillette and also witnessed its second victory against an international foe (the first against Alajuelense in 2003).

The Revolution will take on Pachuca, the defending SuperLiga champion, Wednesday night at Gillette.

In SuperLiga, eight teams are split into two groups, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the semifinals July 29 and 30.

The tournament also includes Chivas USA, D.C. United, Houston Dynamo, Atlante, and CD Guadalajara.

Revolution coach Steve Nicol said he went with a 4-4-2 formation for a more secure approach.

Though the Revolution routinely operate out of a 3-5-2, there have been instances this season when Nicol has switched things up. Against FC Dallas earlier this year, he opted for a 4-4-2 when a combination of injuries and players on national duty limited personnel.

The game did not begin with the action that would follow by the end of the first half, with the Revolution's scoring chances limited in the first half.

One of their best opportunities early on came in the 12th minute when Ralston sprinted toward the goal, stopped, and sent a pass back to Shalrie Joseph, whose attempt flew over the goal.

Santos midfielder Osmar Mares hit the ground in the 23d minute and Revolution forward Kheli Dube was traveling closely behind. As Mares went down, he appeared to throw up his leg and trip up Dube.

Mares was given a yellow card.

Santos was unable to pull together many chances, taking two shots in the game. It appeared to have scored toward the end of the first half, but Oribe Peralta was called for offsides.

"The game was very even and we had some chances, but a mistake led to [the Revolution's goal] and gave them a chance to win," Santos coach Daniel Guzman said.

"Playing with 10 men, we played well, tactically. But it's different, playing 11 vs. 10, especially on this [turf] field and with these conditions; we're not used to playing on a field like this."