Revolution melt down again

Chicago on fire in second half

Taylor Twellman (center) turns to celebrate with Adam Cristman after Twellman scored an early goal. (STEPHAN SAVOIA/Associated Press)

FOXBOROUGH - There was no comfort to be found for the Revolution in their first Major League Soccer match in a month. After controlling the first half against the Chicago Fire, the Revolution watched the seams unravel in about 10 minutes.

Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph was ejected after picking up his second yellow card of the night, on a controversial call in the 74th minute. The decision left the Revolution down a man with a 1-0 lead with about 16 minutes of regulation remaining.

Chicago took advantage and scored two goals within five minutes to capture the 2-1 victory last night in front of 19,240 at Gillette Stadium. The Fire ended the Revolution's unbeaten streak at nine games.

In the 74th minute, Joseph took the ball from Chicago's Cuauhtemoc Blanco, thinking it was the Revolution's throw-in. It was the Fire's ball, and Joseph was handed his second yellow of the night for delaying the restart.

"I just wanted to grab it away from Blanco and play quick," Joseph said. ". . . At the end of the day I've got to be smarter and make better decisions that don't jeopardize the team or put ourselves in that kind of position with a man down."

Joseph also said he felt the calls made by referee Kevin Stott were inconsistent. Earlier in the night, Gonzalo Segares made a tackle on Sainey Nyassi that earned him a yellow card, but the Revolution believed it was worthy of a red card.

"You know, they say the best refs you never know they're there," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "I guess [yesterday] you could turn that on its head and absolutely say that what happened with the referee produced the outcome of the game."

Nicol went on to address the play between Segares and Nyassi.

"When did we change the rules that you can clearly just go for somebody and hit them and stay on the field?"

The Revolution were left trying to make up the difference and soon found themselves behind.

Segares unleashed a shot from about 30 yards that knuckled as it reached goalkeeper Matt Reis and slipped through his hands in the 80th minute to tie the score at 1-1.

The Fire came back in the 86th minute when Reis attempted to get a hand on Tomasz Frankowski's shot.

After the match, Reis said he had both hands on the ball as Wilman Conde charged and kicked it free for the goal, giving the Fire a 2-1 lead.

"I had both hands on the ball and he came in straight-legged - cleats showing," Reis said. "Anywhere else on the field that's a foul and I don't think he was in a good position to see it."

The chaos of the second half overshadowed the return of Revolution striker Taylor Twellman to the starting lineup.

Revolution midfielder Mauricio Castro set up Twellman off a corner kick, allowing Twellman to connect on a header that landed in the right corner of the net in the third minute for his second goal of the season.

Twellman converted the score and then took off down the field in celebration.

His return to a starting role was one of excitement for fans. He returned to the lineup in the second half of the SuperLiga final against the Houston Dynamo. He also played both extra-time periods and converted his penalty kick opportunity.

Prior to the Dynamo appearance, Twellman last played against the LA Galaxy July 4.

Twellman has been hampered by numerous injuries this season. He underwent surgery to repair a tear in his right medial meniscus in April, then was slowed by a right ankle sprain. Most recently he has been recovering from a hip strain.

The Revolution continued to work out of a 4-4-2 formation last night. Offensively, the Revolution started Twellman and Adam Cristman at forward.

The Revolution, the defending U.S. Open Cup champion, will travel to play D.C. United Tuesday in the semifinal.

Last night, Reis started his 100th consecutive game.

"It's not an easy thing, mentally and physically, but I go back to the times when I was sitting on the bench [with the Los Angeles Galaxy] and wishing and hoping for an opportunity and a chance to play," Reis said.

"When I got here [in 2003], I got that chance and made sure that, game in and game out, I was ready to play and there to help the team win."

His streak dates to Sept. 3, 2005, when Reis stopped two of 13 shots in a 1-0 win against Real Salt Lake. Since then, Reis has played every minute of the Revolution's last 100 games. He owns the MLS record for consecutive minutes played in the regular season with 7,830 in 87 matches.

He is tied for fifth in MLS in shutouts with five. Since 2005, he has 35 shutouts, the most of any goalkeeper in the same span.

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com