Superliga: Red Cards Fly as Revolution Advance to Final

The bad blood between MLS and Mexican Primera clubs is reaching critical stage in this year’s Superliga tournament.

On Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium, the New England Revolution beat Atlante, 1-0, in a game that saw 40 fouls, 11 yellow cards, two red cards during regulation time, and four more after the final whistle. Shalrie Joseph’s powerful header in the 30th minute was the difference as the Revolution dominated from start to finish.

The Revolution went on the offensive just 9 minutes in. Mauricio Castro did well to curl a cross in from the left side, and Kheli Dube’s free header looped over the bar. It was a hint of things to come as New England controlled the air space all night.

In the 23rd minute, Joseph flashed a header just wide after Castro corner kick. Three minutes later, however, Atlante mustered some attack, as Luis Gabriel Rey hit a shot that forced goalkeeper Matt Reis into a save.

Kenny Mansally, the Revs young Gambian striker, was a handful all night, and his quick turn in the 30th minute led to a foul from Javier Munoz Mustafa. On the resulting freekick by Steve Ralston, Joseph got position on his defender and slammed his header from eight yards off the bottom of the crossbar and into the net.

The Iron Colts looked lost, unable to create anything in the absence of usual playmaker Gabriel Pareyra. Just before halftime, Revs defender Chris Albright ran out of the back and played a one-two with Dube. Albright streaked into the area, but his sliding shot was saved easily by goalkeeper Federico Vilar.

The second half was a game of cat and mouse, as Atlante pushed for the equalizer and the Revolution counterattacked. Fernando Navarro provided some spark for the Iron Colts, and came close with a left-footed shot from distance. Then Christian Bermudez tried from the right side, but Reis was up to the task.

As 90 minutes approached, things got testy. In the 84th minute, a freekick was whistled for the Revolution from the left side. While Ralston readied to deliver the cross, Atlante’s Rey punched Joseph at the top of the area. He was given his immediate marching orders.

In stoppage time, midfielder Alan Zamora was shown a second yellow and a red after a particularly hard tackle from behind on Joseph, the Revs’ talisman and the target for most of Atlante’s malice.

Down two men, Atlante could not mount much attack and watched as the seconds ticked away until the referee blew the whistle. That’s when things got even more heated. First, Revs defender Jay Heaps got into a pushing match with several players and was shown a red card. Then Vilar was red-carded for pushing Heaps.

A melee broke out. Players from both sides shoved and threw punches. Albright was struck in the face by an Atlante staff member. Mustafa and Luis Venegas were shown red cards. Eventually stadium security broke up the scuffle and both teams separated.

The Revolution now host the Houston Dynamo in an all-MLS final to the Superliga tournament. The game is set for next Tuesday night at Gillette Stadium.

--Goal.com