Star-crossed Galaxy no match

FOXBOROUGH -- David Beckham was not the only Los Angeles Galaxy player sitting out last night's game. And the Revolution capitalized on the absence of several Galaxy starters to take a 1-0 victory before 35,402, the largest single-game attendance for a regular-season Major League Soccer match in Gillette Stadium's six-year history.

"Beckham's the man, he's Hollywood," said Taylor Twellman, who provided the difference with a 55th-minute goal. "He's the one who will get us into the realm of the other sports. I don't know if we can determine when that will be. Maybe next year, the second and third time Beckham shows up.

"I walked out on the field and I wish every game was like that. We should have 20,000 here every night. We showed what we are capable of and, hopefully, the fans will come back."

The Revolution (10-4-6, 36 points) lead the MLS overall standings going into a road trip to Colorado (Thursday) and Kansas City (next Sunday).

The Galaxy (3-7-5, 14 points), who have not scored on a three-match road trip, started a patchwork lineup and set up to defend and waste time in the first half. Twellman missed several chances, starting with a header off the outside of the left post in the eighth minute, before the Revolution regrouped after halftime.

Twellman had another opportunity in the opening seconds of the second half. Then, he scored his ninth goal of the season, finishing a Shalrie Joseph through ball after avoiding defender Ty Harden.

"The ball was loose and I saw two guys sliding, so I cut back and just wanted to put it on goal," Twellman said. "This was the first time in a long time I have been able to get chances -- the last few games have been a little barren. I should have done a little better in the first half but any time I am getting chances, my goal is to get chances, and keep going. My teammates had a great game and I was fortunate to get on the end of some chances."

The goal sequence started with a Steve Ralston run on the right wing, Ralston's cross sailing to the left wing, Khano Smith recovering and finding Joseph, whose through ball was deflected. Harden miskicked in an attempt to clear, Twellman taking possession, cutting back, then left-footing past Joe Cannon.

"We deserved to win the game and we should have had it wrapped up by halftime," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "We had three fantastic chances that we should have done better with. And when you don't kill the game, there is always a chance they can come back. After we scored, we were a wee bit defensive, and they could have stolen a point."

The Galaxy rallied in the late going, Landon Donovan penetrating into the penalty area only to be stopped by goalkeeper Matt Reis and Gavin Glinton slamming a point-blank shot off defender Jay Heaps in injury time.

Los Angeles was without five starters, including central defender Abel Xavier (knee), who was not on the injured list. Ante Jazic moved into Xavier's spot and Mike Randolph made his first MLS start at left back.

The Revolution started strong, partly motivated by their lackluster performance in a 3-0 loss to D.C. United last Sunday.

"The first half was our best football of the year," Twellman said. "We rebounded well. Our defense put them under pressure and made them make mistakes. We played like the old Revolution."

After hitting the post, Twellman rolled a shot wide (15th), had a close-in shot saved (28th), headed a Smith cross high (33d), and one-timed a poor clearance high (46th). But the Revolution continued to attack on the right side, a Ralston-Twellman combination producing a corner (51st) and, four minutes later, the goal.

"In the first half, we did everything right," Reis said. "We controlled the game and gave them very few chances. They had a few at the end but nothing we couldn't handle. The last couple games, toward the end, we have not possessed the ball as much as we needed to. In those situations, we need to keep the ball, pass it around, and make them chase. Instead, we gave it away a little too easily."