New England Soccer Today

Kamara Tallies Against Ex-Teammates in Win

Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz

Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Kei Kamara tallied against his ex-teammates to help the New England Revolution snap a three-game rut in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Columbus Crew SC at Gillette Stadium.

Kamara, who was jettisoned to Foxboro by Columbus in May following a penalty spat with Crew midfielder Federico Higuain, got his revenge in the 71st minute after collecting a loose ball inside the box and blasting it through to cap the scoring.

Lee Nguyen opened the scoring inside of three minutes on a volley from the top edge of the area that beat the reach of Steve Clark in the third minute. It was his team-leading fifth goal of the season.

New England doubled their lead shortly after the half-hour mark. On a quick break, Nguyen sent it ahead for Kamara, who crossed it for Kelyn Rowe before Wil Trapp raced over to intercept it, only to watch his botched clearance fall into the back of the net in the 34th minute.

But New England wasn’t able to carry their two-goal cushion into the break. In the 42nd minute, Tony Tchani pushed it ahead to Ola Kamara, who beat Jose Goncalves into the box and hit a point-blank shot that slipped out of the grasp of Brad Knighton before it kissed the twine.

Kamara, who pressed all night for paydirt, finally got to scribble his name on the scoresheet after Bunbury was stopped cold in the box by a pair of Crew defenders. But the ball fortuitously fell to the former Crew striker, who easily ushered it into the back of Steve Clark’s net.

Trapp tried to make amends for the own goal in the 88th minute when he uncorked a shot from distance that beat Knighton before it smacked the post.

With the win, the Revolution ended their three-game losing streak and improved to 5-7-7 (22 points). The loss kept Crew SC, who dropped to 3-7-7 (16 points), winless on the road this season.

The Revolution will attempt to make it two in a row on Saturday, Jul. 16 against Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, UT. Kickoff is set for 10:00am ET. Last year, the locals staked a 4-0 win over Salt Lake at Gillette Stadium.

Leave a Reply