WASHINGTON, DC (Aug 21, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- The New England Revolution are once again the best team in Major League soccer with all clubs even on 20 games played.
New England 2 - DC United 1
With neither team really hit by international absences, it was New England at the disadvantage with Doug Warren starting in goal in place of the injured Matt Reis.
"It makes it easy when the guys in front of you are doing their jobs, and are doing it well," Warren said. "I don't think I was in many positions to make gutsy decisions because the guys in front of me made it easy. Overall, we won, so that's all that really matters."
The Revolution attack gave Warren a 2-0 lead with goals from Taylor Twellman in the 24th minute and Jeff Larentowicz in the 49th.
"Doug and I have been friends since we were 16, 17, and we were on youth teams together," Twellman said. "I'm a big fan of Dougie and we're just blessed with two really good goalies. Fortunately, I have been a part of Doug's two wins here and they were both against D.C., so it's well deserved."
DC United pulled a goal back through Jaime Moreno in the 69th, but any argument they had for a would-be equalizer was matched by New England's for a third goal.
"We never gave up," Moreno said. "We kept digging, kept trying, and after we scored the first goal, we had some good chances to tie the game. It's just part of the game where you get chances and you miss them. We just have to do a better job overall. It wasn't a good job in the first half, but we showed a different team in the second half. We'll learn from it and it won't happen again."
Houston 4 - Chivas USA 0
As expected, Houston without its National Team players was better than Chivas USA without several of their regulars.
"It's not about their injuries," Houston midfielder Kai Kamara said. "If you look at it, we are missing three players also, so it's just about who comes in the game and makes a difference."
Those Houston absentees would be Brian Ching, Dwayne De Rosario, and Pat Onstad. Chivas USA got a half from Claudio Suarez, but Ante Razov wasn't able to play after being named as a substitute. Sasha Kljestan was with the US National Team.
Stuart Holden got Houston's opener in the 11th minute. Kei Kamara scored in the 22nd, with Nate Jaqua making it 3-0 in the 28th, back to Kamara for the final goal in the 35th. Four goals before halftime and not much in the way of answers for Chivas USA.
"They were better," Chivas USA coach Preki said. "They came on the field ready to play, they were aggressive, they made plays when they needed to make plays. They got an early lead, and after that it was just a matter of how many we were going to concede on the night."
Houston leads the West with 32 points and a 7 differential, the fourth-best record in Major League Soccer.
