“The one thing about this team, even though things haven’t gone our way, we’ve kept our chins up and tried to improve and we finally put it together. We got the late goal to put it away and we probably played our best game of the year.’’
The Revolution, who visit Portland Friday, were victorious at Gillette Stadium for the first time since a 1-0 victory over Vancouver, nearly four months ago, snapping a seven-game (0-3-4) home winless streak.
Joseph provided the advantage as the Revolution scored first for the fifth successive game. Joseph capitalized on a Dallas mix-up to run through former Revolution midfielder Daniel Hernandez and Brek Shea, then found Milton Caraglio with a through ball.
Joseph continued his run as Caraglio back-heeled to Monsef Zerka, who crossed for Joseph and he sent a sharp header inside the right post for his eighth goal of the season.
Lekic scored after winning a corner off a long goal kick from Reis. Substitute Ryan Cochrane flicked on Benny Feilhaber’s corner to Lekic, who was unmarked at the back post, Lekic volleying just inside the post.
Many of the players involved in the Revolution goals were not with the team at the start of the season. But the addition of Lekic, who has six goals, Caraglio, Feilhaber, and Zerka has helped transform the team.
“I guess I should be ecstatic,’’ Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. “But I kind of look at it now and think, had we not made the mistakes previously, we’d be in a great position. It’s good to win. But I think we probably just deserved it. We certainly rode our luck a couple of times – but so did they.’’
This was the Revolution’s first shutout since June 20 (1-0 at D.C. United) and the first time in eight games (1-2-5 record) they prevented an opponent from scoring after the 80th minute.
Part of the reason for the Revolution’s improved performance was tactical. Instead of abandoning their attack, they stayed with a two-forward setup and counterattacked.
