United had a chance to strike first in the final moments of the first half after drawing a handball against Pat Phelan in the box. But Charlie Davies missed his first penalty kick in five tries, sending the ball over the middle of the crossbar in the 44th minute.
Revolution goaltender Matt Reis made six saves for his fourth shutout, and he was the key factor early in keeping the game scoreless. Reis denied Davies in the 17th minute and stoned Dwayne De Rosario in the 18th minute.
Captain Shalrie Joseph and defender Ryan Cochrane returned to the Revolution starting lineup after serving their suspensions and helped stabilize coach Steve Nicol’s 4-3-3 formation, which he used for the first time since May 7. Cochrane suffered a left foot injury in the 22d minute and was replaced by Darrius Barnes.
“[The win] was big for us,’’ Reis said. “We haven’t had a lot to be happy about this year and after our performance against Philadelphia on the weekend, we were really down in the dumps and it just shows a lot of heart and resolve in these guys. I still think this team is good enough to win and we definitely showed it tonight.’’
Galaxy 1, Crew 0 - Sean Franklin scored in the 70th minute and Los Angeles beat visiting Columbus, extending its unbeaten streak to 13 games.
David Beckham’s free kick bounced off a wall of defenders and back into the middle of the pitch. Franklin, a cornerback playing in his 86th game, then hit a low shot from 25 yards out for his first MLS goal.
Whitecaps 2, Earthquakes 2 - Chris Wondolowski scored his first two goals since May to help San Jose tie Vancouver at Santa Clara, Calif.
Wondolowski, who missed four June matches while playing for the US national team in the Gold Cup, scored in the third and 54th minutes for San Jose (5-6-9). Eric Hassli responded in the 42nd and 61st minutes for Vancouver.
Rapids 4 Red Bulls 1 - Sanna Nyassi scored two of his three goals in the first half to lead host Colorado.
It was Nyassi’s first three goals of the year and only the seventh time a Rapids player had scored three times in a game. Wells Thompson added a goal for Colorado (7-6-9).
