New England Revolution managed to come from behind to defeat the Seattle Sounders 2-1 even after captain Steve Ralston went down with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.

The 35-year old midfielder went down in the 19th minute at Gillette Stadium when his side was down 1-0 but the Revs managed to find inspiration in Ralston's absence and fought back thanks to two goals from Shalrie Joseph.

The win increased the Revolution's play-off chances as pointed out by defender Jay Heaps.

"This was a must-win,'' Heaps said. "Steve Ralston is the heart and soul of this team and losing him is tough.

"We were in here at halftime and we saw him on crutches and we knew we were going to have to go out and battle, and everyone raised their game in the second half.

"Without question, Ralston is our best player as far as skill. At halftime that was the heart of our speech: 'Let's do it for Rallie.' ''

Revolution coach Steve Nicol echoed Heaps' sentiments.

"At this stage of the season, it's all about results and points,'' Nicol said.

"Up until [Ralston's injury], to be honest, we were fast asleep.

"We keep talking before the game about starting well, and we said before it's easy for everybody to talk about it - and we didn't do it.

"So, we've fought ourselves out of a big hole, which shows the steel of the team, but we're not always going to get away with starting slow.''