Kelyn Rowe and Benny Feilhaber scored for the Revs.
New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis makes a save Saturday during a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire in Foxborough. By MIKE SCANDURA
FOXBOROUGH – Fortunately for the New England Revolution, Kelyn Rowe adheres to coach Jay Heaps’ instructions.
“Jay told me to come in and give some energy and make an impact,” Rowe said after the Revolution beat the Chicago Fire, 2-0, in an MLS game Saturday night at Gillette Stadium. “The first touch of the ball almost was a goal. The second was a goal. It was fun.”
Rowe came off the bench in the 64th minute, and five minutes later collected a pass from Benny Feilhaber, split two defenders and lined a shot past Chicago goalie Sean Johnson.
Rowe returned the favor four minutes later when he fed Feilhaber, who lined a shot inside the far left post.
“I think (Rowe) kind of gave us something a little different,” Feilhaber said. “Fernando (Cardenas, who Rowe replaced) gave us a great 60 minutes. Kelyn came in there with new energy and was able right off the bat get in behind (Chicago’s defense).
“I think he made those two great runs that allowed us to get those opportunities. He probably should have scored on the first one, but then he made up for it with a much tougher one on the second one and got us on the board. Then, obviously, he got the assist on the second goal so he was huge for us tonight.”
Among other things, the Revolution (5-8-1) ended a second-half drought. Entering the game, New England only had scored five second-half goals.
And it was their first victory over Chicago (5-5-3) since May 6, 2007. During that span, the Revolution was 0-7-3 against the Fire.
“I thought from the opening whistle we possessed the ball well,” Heaps said. “Chicago’s a good team and they do well on the road, so we knew they would come in waves. We definitely defended their counterattack well.
“As for Kelyn, he’s all ‘go.’ You love that about him because there’s no governor on him. He wants to play the next day and the next day.”
From a psychological standpoint, the victory was important for the Revolution after they blew a 3-0 lead at Harrisburg Tuesday in a U.S. Open Cup game and wound up losing 4-3 on penalty kicks.
“It was really nice to get that Open Cup game out of my head because that was a nightmare for all of the guys,” Feilhaber said. “It wasn’t good enough. It was depressing. It was everything you could possibly think it was.
“It was really good to be able to get that lead tonight and not relinquish it. Three points against a team that was five points ahead of us. Now we cut the gap down to two to be in the playoff top five. It’s exactly what we wanted.”
NOTES: Both teams played the game short-handed; New England was minus central midfielder Clyde Simms (left ankle tendinitis) for a third consecutive game .¤.¤. Ryan Guy, who had replaced Simms the previous two games, re-aggravated a right calf injury in the loss at D.C. United on May 26 ... Chicago played without one of its top offensive threats, midfielder Marco Pappa, who was playing with the Guatemala National Team. Pappa is second on the Fire with three goals and is tied for the team lead with three assists ... Revolution midfielder Benny Feilhaber began play ranked third in MLS with 29 fouls in nine games ... MLS is going on a two-week break to accommodate FIFA’s competition calendar (June 1-5, 8-12), though several MLS teams are competing in the U.S. Open Cup.