The Morning After: Revolution vs. Crew

Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz

For the fifth time this season, Diego Fagundez donned the red cape and scored the game-winner in Saturday’s 3-2 Revolution win over the Crew at Gillette Stadium.

Here are some facts, figures and assorted stats from the home finale in Foxboro:

-Despite the Revolution getting maximum points, their chances at reaching the postseason actually dipped from 36.7 percent to 34.7 percent. Of course, the Revolution can thank Toronto FC, who lost to Chicago 1-0, for that. If Houston beats New York on Sunday, it’ll drop to 28.6 percent.

-Among Revolution starters, Jose Goncalves was the club’s most effective passer on Saturday by completing 91 percent of his passes. Not far behind were Kelyn Rowe (84 percent) and Matt Reis (79 percent). As a team, the Revolution completed 73 percent of their passes.

-Among Crew starters, Jairo Arrieta led the way in the passing department by connecting on 80 percent of his passes. Chad Barson and Dominic Oduro were right behind Arrieta in the passing accuracy department as both completed 77 percent of their passes. As a team, the Crew only connected on 68 percent of their passes.

-Andrew Farrell was the Revolution’s most active defender on a night in which he collected six effective clearances and intercepted two Columbus passes.

-Chad Marshall put together a solid showing by recording nine effective clearances to go along with four intercepted Revolution passes.

-Revolution coach Jay Heaps’ take on the defense-optional contest: “I thought it was a pretty exciting game, to say the least. It was really a tale of two halves because our first half, I thought, was complete and we played really well. I thought we should have gotten our second goal and we didn’t and it really put us in a lot of pressure. And when you’re playing against teams that are fighting for everything – you can see both teams needed to win – both teams risked a lot for the win, so that’s why the game was wide open. Credit Columbus, because I thought they had an excellent second half and every time we seemed to step ahead, they pounded back. So I credit them a lot; they had a great game.”

-Not surprisingly, Crew interim coach Brian Bliss had a similar take on the proceedings: “It was entertaining if you were sitting in the stands. Sitting on the bench, it’s a heart attack a second. We couldn’t play it any way other than that way, because of what was at stake. They were in the same boat we were, and the game opened up after the first call and it was an entertaining game. Both teams went at it. I need to look at the statistics, but I think we probably had a little bit more of the possession – a little bit more of the winning of the duels and pass count – which tells me we were playing and trying to push the game.”

-Kind of related, but maybe not really: Despite the Red Sox hosting an important American League Championship Series clash at Fenway Park, the Revolution managed to draw their biggest crowd of the season (26,548). Coincidentally, the last time a Revolution home match coincided with a home Red Sox ACLS contest, the Revolution drew a season-high 22,295 on Oct. 13, 2007. Their opponent? The Columbus Crew. The score? 3-2. But on that night, the Crew were the ones who scored three.

Tweet of the night:

Nice job guys. 3points now we talking… Thanks for the support from the FANS #MIDNIGHTRIDERS#

— Goncalves Jose (@Oneswitz) October 20, 2013

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