Nor did things calm down after the final whistle, a postgame shoving match breaking out following a confrontation between the Revolution’s Jermaine Jones and New York’s Brazilian midfielder Felipe.

That intense approach helped fuel the Revolution’s fast start, Charlie Davies extending his scoring streak to three games with a ninth-minute header. And if the adrenaline was wearing off in the second half, both teams were energized by bench strength, Lee Nguyen assisting on Teal Bunbury’s goal for a 2-0 lead, and the Red Bulls rallying behind substitutes Lloyd Sam and Bradley Wright-Phillips.

FOXBOROUGH — So much for regular-season doldrums. Postseason-level intensity marked the Revolution’s 2-1 win over the New York Red Bulls Saturday night in the teams’ first meeting since last year’s Eastern Conference finals.


“Two teams that are emotional teams and emotional coaches,” Revolution coach Jay Heaps said, “meaning that we wanted to win that game and they wanted to win that game and that’s what this is all about.

“For me, that stuff used to always happen. You’re playing the Chicago Fire, New York, there’s going to be guys getting after it. And I thought the game showed that. There was a lot of intensity. There wasn’t an inch of space, no one had any time on the ball because everyone was committed to winning.”

The Revolution (5-5-2, 17 points) remained in first place in the Eastern Conference, extending their unbeaten streak to seven games and ending the unbeaten streak of the Red Bulls (3-1-4, 13 points).

But the Red Bulls broke through late on a Sacha Kljestan goal, the first surrendered by the Revolution in the run of play in 619 minutes, since a March 15 visit to New York City FC.

Jones started in central defense for the third successive game, but in the late going moved into a midfield role, and that was where he clashed with Felipe.


“You can see it’s the same as like in baseball, Red Sox and Yankees,” said Jones, who threw a ceremonial first pitch in the Red Sox-Toronto game Tuesday. “So maybe we have that with New York Red Bulls. At one point I say it’s nice, you want that. After the game, both of us can maybe handle it different.

“I told him if you lose, it’s better you don’t talk. Then he say something in his language, and I played with people from that country so I know some words. And I told him don’t do that, I love my kids and love my wife and it had nothing to do with on the pitch.

“But it’s done, I don’t want to really push that more. Sometimes that happens and both of us come out normal from the game. Maybe he’s upset it was their first loss, I understand that, too. So for me it’s not a big deal.”

The Revolution’s pressing tactics paid off early, right back London Woodberry’s cross headed in at the near post by Davies.

Nguyen, who is hoping to renegotiate his contract, missed two practices last week and was replaced by Kelyn Rowe in the starting lineup. Four minutes after entering the game, Nguyen helped set up the second goal on a quick-passing sequence involving Davies, Juan Agudelo, and Scott Caldwell before Nguyen rolled a pass to the right side of the penalty area for an onrushing Bunbury to finish past Luis Robles in the 60th minute.


The Red Bulls then added Sam and Wright-Phillips, last year’s MLS scoring leader, Kljestan cutting the deficit in the 73d minute.

The Revolution moved Jones into midfield, Jose Gonçalves to central defense for the first time since sustaining a calf injury April 11.

The change helped settle the Revolution defense, but the Red Bulls nearly tied the score on a Felipe left-footer, knocked away by Bobby Shuttleworth in the 88th minute.

“You have to know what kind of game you’re getting into,” Red Bull coach Jesse Marsch said. “You realize there’s not a lot of time, there’s not a lot of space, the turf gives you weird bounces. It’s a field where you have to choose your moments on when you want to pass and you have to play direct a lot, so it makes it competitive every time. And they’re a good team, too.”