The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Babucarr Camara
28 June 2011
Gambian international Sainey Nyassi was on target on Sunday evening opening the scorings for his New England Revolution away at Sanna Nyassi’s former club Seattle Sounders but it proved to be a mere consolation as the host came from behind to reclaim second in the Western Conference table with a 2-1 win.
Benny Feilhaber was forced out of the USA’s Gold Cup campaign with an ankle injury, but made an immediate impact upon his return for New England, as his smart corner to the top of the area in the third minute sat perfectly for the Gambian international Sainey Nyassi to drive home the opener. By half-time, however, Seattle had taken what would be a match-winning lead.
The Sounders squared the scoreline on 34 minutes after defender Tyson Wahl hit a superb curling free-kick inside New England goalkeeper Matt Reis’ top right-hand corner, and then went ahead when Uruguayan midfielder Alvaro Fernandez stroked home six minutes later. Danish striker Rajko Lekic and midfielder Shalrie Joseph both went close to an equaliser, while Zach Schilawski smacked the crossbar with a powerful long-range drive in the 85th minute. But New England left Seattle empty handed, and have now sunk to second-last on the Eastern Conference table after Sporting Kansas City’s 2-1 win over Vancouver on Saturday.
Elsewhere in the top flight of United States soccer, hosting reigning champions Colorado at Crew Stadium, Columbus rallied from a goal down to thump the Rapids of Sanna Nyassi 4-1 and move within two points of top spot on the Eastern Conference table.
Columbus fell behind after just five minutes when Scottish midfield Jamie Smith’s cross from the left was expertly nodded by veteran striker Conor Casey. Fringe US midfielder Eddie Gaven equalised for the home side seven minutes later, and Peruvian forward Andres Mendoza put Columbus in front inside 20 minutes. Casey’s match soured when he was handed a straight red card for a challenge on Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer on 29 minutes with the ball in dispute.
And Columbus capitalised on their numerical advantage by inflating the scoreline in the second half through Mendoza’s second and fellow forward Tommy Heinemann’s drive.
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