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FOXBORO - They played a futbol match at Gillette Stadium Wednesday night and a fight broke out... what is this hockey?

Midfielder Shalrie Joseph headed in an indirect kick taken by Steve Ralston in the 30th minute as the New England Revolution took a 1-0 victory over Atlante F.C. in the semifinal round of the SuperLiga series Wednesday, a match played before 8,302 fans at Gillette Stadium.

But, it was the brawl at the conclusion of the match - which featured eight yellow-card warnings and a half-dozen red-card ejections which stirred the emotions.

"You see it all the time, they're always swearing and yelling at the ref," chimed in New England goalkeeper Matt Reis of the Mexican's lack of discipline and conduct. "All they wanted to do was come on and fight us."

At the conclusion of the match, which included five stoppage-time minutes, emotions got the best of Atlante, which had three players ejected during regulation time and two more in extra time. "Absolutely, it was frustration," said New England coach Steve Nicol of Atlante's post-match decorum. "The ref can only give yellow and red cards - they (Atlante) lost their discipline."

New England defender Jay Heaps was apparently punched from behind by a member of the Atlante staff.

"I was hoping that there are enough calm heads," added Nicol, irate that a "staff" member would enter into the fray. "In those situations, it's very difficult to just turn around."

The Revolution will meet the Houston Dynamo for the SuperLiga championship Tuesday in Foxboro. Houston, which beat New England for the 2007 MLS Championship, beat Pachuca 2-0 in the other semifinal round match Tuesday.

New England, with the most wins (10) and points (33) in MLS, reached the semifinal round of the SuperLiga by posting a 2-0-1 record in its Group B series of play. Atlante, the Mexican Apertura (fall season) champion, reached the semifinal round of play by compiling a 2-1 record in Group A.

"The guys on their team, their staff, hitting people from behind," said Reis in disgust. "In the end, we're not happy with the way things went. We played really well, but it gets marred by everything that happened at the end."

Heaps was issued a red-card ejection by referree Carlos Batres after the match, in addition to Atlante's Javier Munoz Mustafa and Luis Venegas. During regulation time, Luis Gabriel Rey was sent off in the 84th minute, Federico Vilar in the third minute of stoppage time and Alan Zamora in the fourth minute.

Conversely, New England had just three yellow-card warnings.

Atlante generated three corner kicks (at the four minute and twice in the 23rd minute) during the first half, but had only one true scoring chance - a drive by Rey in the 27th minute - which was taken down by Reis with a chest high save.

The Revolution, with the second fewest (19) goals allowed in MLS, opted for a four-man defensive backline instead of its customary 3-5-2 alignment - midfielder Jeff Larentowicz dropping back and Amaechi Igwe starting in place of U.S. Olympic Team member Michael Parkhurst. Joseph's goal was a picture of strength and speed, the New England midfielder, bursting to an open spot in the penalty box area, out muscling an Atlante defender for space and heading the ball over goalie Federico Vilar and off the crossbar into the net.

New England produced nine first half shots, having several other good scoring bids, the best of which was Kheli Dube striking a crossing pass from Kenny Mansally off the crossbar in the 26th minute.

New England, which had allowed just one goal in its three previous SuperLiga matches, shutting out Mexican foes Santos Laguna and Pachuca, surrendered three second half corner kicks (at 54, 63 and 77) and one testing shot at Reis (four saves).

New England and Atlante had played a preseason "friendly" match March 6 in Playa Del Carmen. But, it was a not-so-friendly SuperLiga semifinal.

"We were solid, I don't remember them having a chance," added Nicol of New England controlling the pace of play, having a 17-8 advantage in shots. "Defensively, we were solid - we were happy with the performance.

"As staff members, we as coaches, we can be there to help the players on and off the field, but the one thing that really disappointed me was one of their staff members throwing punches - that's unacceptable."