Wizards made lead disappear

Shalrie Joseph was nearly in position to prevent Kansas City's first goal in its 4-3 win over the Revolution Saturday night. But Joseph clearly was struggling to retreat as Davy Arnaud chested down the ball and converted to cut the Wizards' deficit to 2-1 in the 25th minute.

Things continued to go wrong for the Revolution, Eddie Johnson capitalizing for goals in the 26th, 38th, and 82d minutes for the Wizards. Joseph was listed as questionable for the match and did not train with the first team the day before the game, spending most of the practice session having his right leg treated.

But Joseph assumed his leadership role in midfield and was able to dictate tempo while in possession of the ball, converted the Revolution's third goal on a 69th-minute penalty kick, and was aggressively moving into attack until the final whistle.

The Revolution (5-2-2, 17 points) allowed too much space between midfielders and defenders, though, partly because of Joseph's mobility problems. And the Wizards (5-2-1, 16 points) capitalized as their midfielders and defenders lofted passes into space or found Johnson isolated on defenders.

After the game, Joseph said the injury did not affect him, but he continued to keep his lower right leg tightly wrapped under his street clothes. He was hurt on a hit by Houston defender Eddie Robinson after taking a shot that resulted in the Revolution's goal in a 1-0 win May 19. Joseph was replaced by Joe Franchino in the 60th minute of that match, Franchino continuing in the position during training last week.

If Joseph does not recover, Franchino could take his place against Real Salt Lake Saturday.

But the Revolution also suffered a general letdown against the Wizards before rallying behind substitutes Adam Cristman and Wells Thompson in the second half.

Johnson's speed kept New England defenders off balance and substitute Carlos Marinelli added creativity to the Wizards' midfield.

"We didn't cover each other," Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst said. "We put it on cruise control after it was 2-0. It's embarrassing to go behind, 3-2, especially in front of the home fans. It was a combination of errors, an inability to keep the ball, poor defending; we left [goalkeeper] Matt [Reis] out to dry. It's one of those games where we have to learn from it."

Steve Ralston (11th minute) and Taylor Twellman (23d) gave the Revolution the lead. Twellman scored his league-leading seventh goal of the season and his 50th at Gillette Stadium.

"Once a year, something like that happens," Ralston said. "It's disappointing, and that's an understatement. We expect to win the game and we pride ourselves defensively [on] being well-organized. But we didn't defend well, and that's everyone on the field. We gave the ball away in bad spots and they have guys who are lightning fast and make good runs.

"We have to do a better job passing and get the ball wide."

The Revolution last surrendered four goals in a home match in a 4-2 loss to D.C. United July 27, 2003 . . . Johnson had not scored in three appearances against the Revolution before Saturday . . . Arsene Oka scored twice and Chris Loftus once in the first half as the Revolution reserves took a 3-0 win over the Wizards yesterday.

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