By IAN HOLLIDAY
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - No Angel? No problem.
Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena chose to rest forward Juan Pablo Angel for the team's third match in eight days, but it didn't matter, as Angel's replacement Miguel Lopez scored the only goal in the Galaxy's 1-0 win over the New England Revolution at Gillette Staduim Saturday night.
After the game, Arena said he knew Angel wouldn't make the trip east after Wednesday's match against Houston, and that Lopez would start in the Colombian's place.
"Miguel was always going to play this game," Arena said. "He's a very good player."
Both clubs finished the match with 10 men, but not because of red cards. The Galaxy lost midfielder Juninho to injury in the 86th minute, and Benny Feilhaber limped off three minutes later for the Revs. Both injuries happened after the clubs had used all of their available subs.
Lopez's glancing header off of a David Beckham cross in the 67th minute put the Galaxy ahead, and the club weathered a flurry of Revolution attacks in stoppage time, including two clearances off the goal line, one by A.J. DeLaGarza and the other by Landon Donovan.
Angel wasn't the only player Arena looked to give extra rest. The coach replaced Chad Barrett with Paolo Cardozo in the 61st minute and withdrew Beckham in the 79th. Much had been made before the game about the midfielder's midweek trip to England to play in Gary Neville's testimonial match against Juventus, but Beckham said he didn't feel tired Saturday night.
"I wasn't fatigued at all," Beckham said. "I've rested well since I got back."
Before the goal, neither side had created many opportunities since the midway point of the first half.
The Galaxy thought they had opened the scoring in the 24th minute when Omar Gonzalez rose highest in the box and headed a Beckham corner kick off the underside of the crossbar and onto the goal line. The ball bounced back into play, but Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant somehow managed to put his header wide from less than a yard out.
The Galaxy had more possession in the first 20 minutes, but the Revolution arguably had the better chances, with both Zak Boggs and Rajko Lekic fumbling shots from close-range.
After the match, Nicol said he was frustrated with his team's performance.
"In the first half, I thought we did great," Nicol said. "We had some good chances; we just didn't take them."
Nicol said he believes the Revs aren't far from where they want to be as a team, but they just haven't been able to put it all together and get results.
The win improves the Galaxy to 8-2-5 (29 points), while the Revolution fall to 3-5-4 (13 points).
Next week, the Revolution travels to FC Dallas on Saturday, while the Galaxy returns to the Home Depot Center to host D.C. United Friday night.
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