September 1, Monarcas Morelia defeated the New England Revolution 2-1 to win the 2010 SuperLiga Championship at Gillette Stadium. Under the terms of the new CBA, the Revolution players divide a SuperLiga purse of $150,000 for reaching the SuperLiga final, half the earnings had they won the title.
Miguel Sabah put Morelia ahead with a penalty in the 65th minute after Darrius Barnes fouled Luis Gabriel Rey in the box. Rey had tackled Barnes hard and as they both went down Barnes grabbed Rey's ankle with his hand. Sabah doubled the score in the 75th minute by connecting with a headed clearance by Barnes and blasting the ball past Reis. Kevin Alston kept the game alive for the Revolution in the 79th minute by scoring his first-ever professional goal assisted by Zach Schilawski. Betu, who replaced Kheli Dube in the 70th minute, created a good opportunity in injury time by winning the ball back from his defender after a stymied first attempt and delivering a cross which bounced precisely to the foot of Cory Gibbs, who took a soft shot directly into the arms of goalkeeper Federico Vilar.
"We took a long time to put this group together, so it makes me especially happy to win a championship with this them," said Morelia head coach Tomas Boy. We have12 guys who are under 22 and the personality that they've developed together has us well prepared for everything that's ahead of us. . . Our first goal opened their defense with Sabah’s goal – he is an unpredictable goal scorer who can score any type of goal. After that, [New England] scored a very good goal that put us in a real fight. They risked everything with almost five forwards, like you would expect for a final. But in the end, we were able to weather the storm of their attack."
A positive for New England to take away
The way that Alston's goal was created is a positive the Revolution can take away. The goal was created as the best goals are, with short passes in traffic and this time down the center, as opposed to New England's routine and easy-to-read attempts at wing run and cross to guy-planted-in-the-box. Shalrie Joseph, who stepped up large in this final, began the scoring sequence with a low, direct pass straight down the middle to right back Alston, who had moved forward. Alston laid off back to Schilawski and sprinted ahead. Schilawski, tightly marked by two defenders, had the composure to send forward another short pass to Alston, who beat his defender and put it neatly away in the far corner. Goals like this have nothing to do with luck, glamor, or physical play, it's communication and composure by three players playing as one. Allowing outside backs to flow in the attack and add that unpredictability is also progress. So if this goal marks a change in direction for New England, it's a good one.
"I thought we were decently organized," said Alston. "Any time you play a team like that where they like to possess the ball, you can pressure them but it’s playing into their game because they want to move the ball – they want to make you run, so we tried to stay organized."
Throughout the game, there were also real low points in the Revolution's possession and passing and Morelia's tight, connected game exposed those weaknesses in glaring light. After the unproductive first half in which the Mexican side dominated possession, New England came out of the locker room with fresh ideas and created several opportunities, although they never threatened keeper Vilar. Also, contrary to expectations, New England and Morelia did not play a particularly combative game as far SuperLiga games go, although six cautions were issued and Sabah was ejected for his second in injury time. But, the better side won, as it should, and the Revolution remain a work in progress.
"MLS clubs play a very tactical game, sometimes a rigid tactical game," said Boy, "but they know how to take advantage of opportunities and it’s not easy to play against them. … I think they’re not far away from reaching an even more competitive level."
This Saturday, the Revolution host the Seattle Sounders, who stand sixth in the 16-team League. New England, standing 14th League-wide, must improve to compete.
"I think with playing a Mexican team, they teach us about organization," said Shalrie Joseph, "they teach us how to defend well as a team. They keep the ball so well and possess it. Saturday, we’ve just got to worry about creating more chances and trying to be smarter and getting back into the MLS season."
"We have a handful of games left and we’re pretty far out of the playoff picture," said goalkeeper Matt Reis, who was forced to make six clutch saves, "but we really ought to hunker down and get some results. We’re probably going to have to win 90 percent of the games left."
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SuperLiga 2010 Final
New England Revolution vs. Monarcas Morelia
September 1, 2010 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Scoring Summary:
MOR – Miguel Sabah (Penalty Kick) 65
MOR – Miguel Sabah (Unassisted) 75
NE – Kevin Alston (Zack Schilawski) 79
New England Revolution: Matt Reis (GK), Cory Gibbs, Darrius Barnes, Emmanuel Osei (Zack Schilawski 71), Kevin Alston Chris Tierney (Khano Smith 70), Pat Phelan, Shalrie Joseph ©, Kheli Dube (Roberto Linck 70), Marko Perovic, Ilija Stolica
Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Shuttleworth, Tim Murray, Nico Colaluca, Seth Sinovic
STATS: Shots: 9; Shots on Goal: 4; Saves: 6; Corner Kicks: 2; Offside: 6; Fouls Committed: 9
Monarcas Morelia: Federico Vilar (GK), Enrique Perez, Fernando Salazar, Francisco Dorame, Mauricio Romero ©, Ismael Pineda (Luis Noriega 76), Hugo Droguet, Jaime Lozano, Miguel Sabah, Luis Gabriel Rey (Rafael Marquez Logo 88), Elias Hernandez (Luis Silva 94+)
Substitutes Not Used: Jesus Urbina, Miguel Sansores, Angel Sepulveda, Jose Cruzalta
STATS: Shots: 17; Shots on Goal: 8; Saves: 3; Corner Kicks: 3; Offside: 4; Fouls Committed: 18
Misconduct Summary:
MOR – Miguel Sabah (caution) 39
NE – Darrius Barnes (caution) 65
MOR – Jaime Lozano (caution) 85
NE – Pat Phelan (caution) 86
MOR – Jaime Lozano (caution) 88
MOR – Miguel Sabah (second caution/ejection) 91+
Referee: Carlos Batres
Referee’s Assistants: Hermenerito Leal, Gerson Lopez
Fourth Official: Elmar Rodhas
Weather: Clear and 87 degrees
Attendance: 10,414
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