Stoppage Time Shocker
- Updated: July 21, 2013
Ninety minutes of ugly, scoreless soccer were capped off with an incredible four minutes of stoppage time as the New England Revolution grabbed a 2-0 victory in Columbus behind last minute strikes from Jose Goncalves and Diego Fagundez.
The Crew seemed to have the upper hand for most of the night, but were unable to make their offensive pressure count as the Revolution escaped with all three points from a late victory.
After a forgettable 90 minutes from the two teams, Goncalves finally opened the scoring in the first minute of second half stoppage time, heading in a Lee Nguyen corner kick that seemed to catch ‘keeper Andy Gruenebaum off guard thanks in part to a run from A.J. Soares.
Three minutes later Fagundez would put the game out of reach when Nguyen got the ball off a turnover and played the 18-year-old behind the defense. Fagundez slotted it past Gruenebaum for his sixth goal of the season.
The win pushes the Revolution (7-7-6, 27 points) alone into sixth place in the East, two points behind the Houston Dynamo for the final playoff spot.
The Revolution made six changes to the team that lost 2-1 in Colorado on Wednesday. A.J. Soares replaced the injured Stephen McCarthy in the backline, while Kelyn Rowe, Clyde Simms, Chris Tierney and Chad Barrett replaced Ryan Guy, Lee Nguyen, Juan Toja and Diego Fagundez in midfield. Dimitry Imbongo replaced Jerry Bengtson up top.
The Crew put some early pressure on the Revolution’s makeshift line-up and Chad Marshall came close in just the seventh minute when he met a corner kick from Federico Higuain. Marshall powered a header towards goal, but it was just high of the net.
The Revolution had a chance on the counterattack in the 23rd minute when Dimitry Imbongo was played behind the defense by a Chad Barrett flick off an Andrew Farrell pass and hammered a low pass across goal. The ball found an onrushing Tierney, who attempted to redirect if on frame with the ‘keeper out of position, but sent his effort wide.
Despite being on the back foot for the majority of the half, the visitors nearly snuck in a goal deep into stoppage time when a free kick found its way to Jose Goncalves at the top of the box. Goncalves powered a low shot that was just wide of the near post.
The Crew would come out the aggressors again in the second half, but struggled to test Revolution ‘keeper Bobby Shuttleworth. Dominic Oduro was often the catalyst for the Crew, while Fagundez brought some life to the Revolution attack to life after he came off the bench.
Still, the game seemed destined to head to a scoreless draw before Goncalves headed goal in stoppage time, followed by Fagundez’s insurance strike.
The Revolution return to action with a trip to face D.C. United on Saturday.
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