MLS First Kick, Continued: LA Galaxy, New England Revolution Tie 1-1

Three disallowed goals and rainy conditions that turned the field into a swamp didn’t exactly provide the perfect end to an impressive opening week for MLS, but you certainly won’t be hearing the New England Revolution complaining. Despite being thoroughly outplayed and clearly struggling with the conditions more than their opponents, the Revolution held on for a 1-1 against the LA Galaxy on Sunday night.

The Revolution took the early lead when Shalrie Joseph found himself all alone at the far post and headed home the go-ahead goal in the 3rd minute. From there, though, it was almost all Galaxy.

Juan Pablo appeared to have opened his account with the LA Galaxy, but he was flagged for being offsides and the goal was disallowed. It was the third goal that the Galaxy have had disallowed in their Sunday night game with the New England Revolution. The game ended up tied 1-1.

The disallowed goal came on a looping pass from about 40 yards out by David Beckham. Angel was about a yard beyond the final defender, and slid the ball past Matt Reis.

Twice in the a span of less than 10 minutes, the LA Galaxy have had equalizing goals disallowed. The first came at about 16 minutes when it appeared that Juninho had equalized for the LA Galaxy. The Galaxy midfielder had pounced on a free ball inside the six-yard box that New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis had mishandled, and put it in the back of the net.

But it was waved off when it was learned that Mike Magee had been called for a foul during the scrum in front of the net. The Galaxy forward had his arms on Reis as he was attempting to handle the initial shot, but did not appear to push Reis.

Shalrie Joseph scored in the 4th minute to give the New England Revolution a surprising lead over the LA Galaxy in the final game of MLS’s First Kick weekend. Joseph was able to get free of his mark, who appeared to slip in the heavy rain, and was able to get his head on a cross from Zack Schilawski.

The play started when Schilawski took a corner, which came almost directly back to him off a ricochet. He collected the ball about 30 yards out near the top corner of the penalty area and fired the ball back toward the goal. That’s where a diving Joseph was able to give the Revolution the 1-0 lead when he beat Josh Saunders with the shot.

Looks like the Juan Pablo Angel and Omar Gonzalez weren’t quite as healthy as we believed, as neither are in the starting XI for Sunday’s game against the New England Revolution. Angel is on the bench, but neither Gonzalez nor goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts are active.

The Galaxy will instead go the same lineup that faced the Seattle Sounders on Tuesday, with Mike Magee and Chad Barrett at the two forward positions. Landon Donovan, Chris Birchall, Juninho and David Beckham will fill out the midfield. Todd Dunivant, Leonardo, AJ De La Garza and Ryan Franklin will be in front of Josh Saunders.