Agudelo Scores To Lift Revolution Over Fire 2-0

FOXBORO (AP) — Juan Agudelo returned to the lineup for the Revolution after a two-month injury absence and scored a dazzling goal in the 54th minute to lead New England to a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night.

Kelyn Rowe banged in a rebound of a Saer Sene drive in the 91st minute for New England's second goal.

The 20-year old Agudelo took a long, looping pass from midfielder Chris Tierney and nudged a one-touch volley over on-charging Chicago goalie Sean Johnson, while Fire defender Bakary Soumare was unable to keep the ball from crossing the goal line with a dive into the net. Agudelo missed eight matches while recovering from a right knee sprain.

New England ended a two-match winless and scoreless streak, improving to 9-9-6 on the season, 5-4-3 at home. Chicago (9-10-4) had its four-match (3-0-1) unbeaten streak end, being shut out on the road for the fifth time this season. The Fire had scored in 12 consecutive matches.

Chicago, which has scored just eight goals in 11 (2-6-3) road matches this season, nearly took the lead in the 18th minute when Mike Magee's shot from the right shot banged off the goal post and his rebound shot was clutched by New England goalie Matt Reis, making his first start since March 23.

Agudelo's goal snapped a scoreless streak of 261 minutes by New England and was his fourth goal in six matches with New England since being acquired from Chivas USA in May. Agudelo signed a contract with Stoke City of the English Premiership and will join the Potters in January.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.