Revolution not caught short

The Revolution's Khano Smith spreads his wings while heading the ball away from the Red Bulls' Juan Pablo Angel. (Bill Kostroun/Associated Press)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The fates, plus injuries and suspensions, have seemed to be conspiring against the Revolution since opening night. The Revolution lost all-time leading scorer Taylor Twellman (knee) during warm-ups before the first game, and they have since surrendered two penalty kicks and twice had players ejected.

But the Revolution (2-2-1, 7 points) responded to adversity again last night, rallying while playing a man short to score in the second half on Jeff Larentowicz's free kick for a 1-1 tie with the New York Red Bulls.

The Revolution, who visit FC Dallas Thursday, set the tone in the first half in extending an 11-match (7-0-4) unbeaten streak against New York. But the Red Bulls (1-1-1, 4 points) took the lead on Jozy Altidore's solo run and finish from the edge of the penalty area in the 30th minute.

Midfielder Mauricio Castro was red-carded in the opening minute of the second half following a clash with defender Kevin Goldthwaite. But the Revolution, aligned in a 3-4-2 formation, continued to attack, Adam Cristman drawing a foul in the penalty arc, Larentowicz slamming a low shot past an eight-man wall in the 56th minute.

"It wasn't anything we didn't deserve," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "We were down to 10 men and 1-nil down and we got a point. That showed the character of the team."

The Revolution continued to attack in the second half, but switched to a four-man back line for the final 21 minutes, relying on the goalkeeping of Matt Reis.

"They were 1-nil up, it was a fantastic finish [by Altidore], but [Reis] could have been sitting beside me in the first half," Nicol said. "We went down to 10 men in the second half but, even then, we wanted to get something out of the game, so we decided to keep it as is. We wanted to win the game. But they opened us up a couple times late in the game, so we decided to keep what we had."

Altidore adjusted to the conditions, the Giants Stadium artificial turf slickened after having been soaked by the grounds crew before the game. Altidore's first attempt was deflected by Amaechi Igwe over the net for a corner (27th minute). Three minutes later, Altidore played the ball off Igwe, continuing at full speed, just ahead of Larentowicz, scoring his first goal of the season, providing New York with its first home lead over the Revolution since changing from the MetroStars two years ago.

Castro was fouled from behind by Sinisa Ubiparovic, who was cautioned by referee Ricardo Salazar in the ninth minute. Then, early in the second half, Castro was pushed in the back by Goldthwaite, Salazar signaling a foul. Goldthwaite leaned over and appeared to scream at Castro, who was on his back. Castro then kicked out at Goldthwaite, prompting Salazar to red-card Castro and caution Goldthwaite.

But the Revolution capitalized on a Red Bull turnover. Cristman was fouled by Carlos Mendes in the penalty arc (55th), Larentowicz slamming a low free kick past a leaping Chris Leitch, who was on the end of the wall in the penalty area.

"The way the wall was set up, I was happy they put two extra guys in there," Larentowicz said. "There was a lot of traffic in front and the goalkeeper couldn't see. At that point, it was so close to the goal that I had a better chance keeping it low; a power shot would probably go off guys or go over the net."

New York substitute Danleigh Borman began threatening on the left wing. But Reis was well-positioned to stop a Borman shot off a corner (67th), a kick save (71st), and another stop on Altidore (89th), and a save on the goal line of a John Wolyniec header (79th).

The Revolution went to a four-man back line as Chase Hilgenbrinck replaced Cristman in the 69th minute.

"It was a situation we are used to," Larentowicz said. "It's a tough situation, all things considered, but we played together as a team. They were throwing guys forward but we've dealt with it before and we'll have to deal with it again.

"That's the way the game is. Sometimes you win ugly and sometimes you play well and are disappointed you lost."