Undermanned Revs Shut Out by Galaxy

July 8, 2009 -- A skeletal New England Revolution squad welcomed the new international signing Edgaras Jankauskas by allowing the thoroughly beatable LA Galaxy to shut them out 1-0. Alecko Eskandarian, in his first Galaxy match after being traded from Chivas USA, scored the game winning goal in the 8th minute off a Todd Dunivant assist.

The Galaxy played without USMNT striker Landon Donovan who was scratched shortly before the match. The Revolution were already without seven of their starting eleven - Taylor Twellman, Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph, Chris Albright, Mauricio Castro, Jay Heaps, and Emmanual Osei - but then yet another player, Chris Tierney, suffered a sprained knee and was pulled from the lineup before the match.

Left midfielder Tierney had been slotted into left defender Jay Heaps' spot and in his absence, versatile-but-not-that-versatile right midfielder Wells Thompson was penciled into the all-rookie back line. To his credit, Thompson did more than his share of holding down the fort to compensate for the negligible defensive skills of left midfielder Kenny Mansally.

Once again New England is tied with the New York Red Bulls for fewest goals scored (15) in the league this season.

The best chance of the night for the Revolution was a long range header in the 73rd minute by Mike Videira who forced keeper Josh Saunders to make his most important save. Not a flashy presence on the field, Videira provides the simple touches and selflessness Dube and Mansally lack.

Kevin Alston was the brightest spot for the Revolution and stretched his own game under pressure with tenacious but clear-headed defending and quick reflexes. In a key save at the end of the second half, Alston rushed in to narrowly deflect a shot with his head that was destined for the net.

Matt Reis was forced to make several important saves including a point-blank header from Chris Klein at the 82nd minute and the subsequent rebound shot that Reis tipped over the back of the net. This was only Reis' eighth appearance this season because of injuries.

The Revs fell to 4-5-4 as the Galaxy improved to 4-3-9 in front of their lowest July 4 crowd ever - 20,609.

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