Revs fall in Montreal

Lee Nguyen’s fantastic strike against Montreal wasn’t enough to get the Revs a result. (Photo: Chris Aduama/aduama.com).

The Montreal Impact made it back-to-back disappointments for the New England Revolution against Canadian clubs, winning 2-1 over the Revs on Wednesday night at Saputo Stadium in Montreal.

Patrice Bernier opened the scoring in the 28th for expansion club on a penalty earned by Sanna Nyassi. The Revs would grab one back just before halftime on a long range Lee Nguyen blast to knot the score, but Nyassi would have the final say, scoring in the 67th minute to give the Impact the win.

Montreal (7-12-3, 24 points) leapfrogged the Revs (6-9-4, 22 points) into seventh place in the East with the win. The Revs have now dropped two in a row, having lost at home to Toronto FC, 1-0, on Saturday, which had ended New England’s five game unbeaten run.

With Shalrie Joseph a late scratch due to back stiffness and Stephen McCarthy out with concussive-like symptoms, the Revs handed Darrius Barnes his first start of the season at center back.  Goalkeeper Matt Reis returned in net after Bobby Shuttleworth started the past two games. Kelyn Rowe was inserted back into the starting line-up upon his return from suspension and Ryan Guy made his first start since May, as the Revs employed a 4-5-1 formation with Saer Sene alone up top and Lee Nguyen playing as an attacking central midfielder behind him.

After some good early pressure by the Revs, Montreal began to dominate possession for a brief period, but it wasn’t until the game began to even out a bit that the Impact grabbed the lead through a 28th minute penalty after Sanna Nyassi went down easily in the box with Chris Tierney in pursuit. Patrice Bernier ended up having to take three penalty kicks – scoring each time – due to various infractions before the third one counted.

The Revs then threatened in the 36th minute when Saer Sene picked up a long ball from Chris Tierney at the top of the box and held off two defenders before turning and driving a low shot on frame.

Lee Nguyen equalized for the visitors in the 44th minute after getting the ball from Kelyn Rowe. Nguyen blasted a stunning shot from 35 yards that rattled off the crossbar, but hit off the back of Donovan Ricketts’ legs and rolled to tie it at 1-1.

The match tightened up in the second half and chances were at a premium, but the Impact felt they could’ve had another penalty in the 51st minute when Davy Arnaud went down in the box after tangling with Barnes.

Looking to push for a winner, head coach Jay Heaps brought on striker Blake Brettschneider for defensive midfielder Clyde Simms.

The substitution seemed to open up the game, which worked out well for Montreal, who took advantage of poor defending to take back the lead in the 67th minute. Justin Mapp found acres of space down the left flank and sent in a cross where an unmarked Nyassi volleyed it into the lower corner to make it 2-1.

The Revs continued to push numbers forward looking for an equalizer with Fernando Cardenas and Sainey Nyassi, making his season debut, entering off the bench. Outside of a few efforts from Nguyen, New England struggled to create chances before falling to their ninth defeat of the season.

The Revs return to action on Saturday at Sporting Kansas City at 8:30 p.m. The match can be seen live on Comcast Sports New England.

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