New England Soccer Today

A Drawn Out Affair

Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com

Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – After their first pair of wins on the 2015 season, the Revolution failed to score at Gillette Stadium Saturday, leading to a 0-0 draw against the Columbus Crew.  With strong winds of 20+ miles per hour, neither team found solid chances all afternoon.  The Revolution move to 2-2-2 (8 points) on the season.

“I thought it was a really tough game all the way around,” said Revolution head coach Jay Heaps. “Elements were difficult tonight and you never like giving up points at home, so obviously we’re disappointed in that. At the same time, I thought Columbus had a good game and when you’re dealing with the wind like that, you could really tell it was difficult to play in.”

Despite the Crew coming off short rest from a mid-week match in Vancouver, Columbus controlled the ball for the majority of the first half, in part due to strong winds going towards the Revolution goal.  The Crew controlled the ball for 59.2 percent of the first half, including 84.8 percent from the 16th to 20th minute.  However, despite controlling possession, the Crew only had five corners and five shots, none of which on goal, to show for it at halftime.

The Revolution slowly built momentum throughout the half and had their first pair of chances in the 32nd minute when a loose ball from a corner led to a low Jermaine Jones shot that couldn’t find his way through a crowded box of Crew defenders. Seconds later, a cross from the right wing was inches away from finding Darrius Barnes in front of net, but instead missed him and rolled out for a corner.  The Revolution continued their pressure on their next possession, as Juan Agudelo made a chip pass to lead Lee Nguyen into the box, but Nguyen couldn’t push the ball past Crew keeper Steve Clark, forcing him to make his first save on the day.

The second half continued the slow pace with limited chances on goal, but the Revolution suddenly began to control possession with the wind at their back at the start of the half.  They found themselves with a golden chance with a free kick in the 64th minute outside of the 18 yard box after Tony Tchani dragged down Lee Nguyen while he was making a run forward.  Nguyen’s free kick was low and on target, but Steve Clark made the save, cleanly preventing any rebound.

After that free kick, chances were few and far between as the teams battled with the wind and aggressive defense with multiple fouls.  Tony Tchani, Mohammed Saeid Juan Agudelo, and Andy Dorman all received yellow cards in the second half for fouls, and Federico Higuain received a card for arguing with referee Silviu Petrescu.

The Revolution pushed late in the second half when in the 87th minute substitute Charlie Davies led a counter attack and was dragged down from behind by Mohammed Saeid, who was given a yellow card.  However after the loose ball from the free kick led to a Revolution corner, Lee Nguyen botched the corner, kicking the ball behind the goal line for a goal kick.

Stoppage time saw a few exciting chances as Aaron Schoenfeld received a pass in the box, but Bobby Shuttleworth came off his line to collect the ball before Schoenfeld could settle it.  On the other end, the Revolution had a last-gasp corner, but the Crew successfully cleared the ball.

Jermaine Jones made his 2015 debut playing the first half before being substituted for Andy Dorman in the second half.  Jones had one shot, which was blocked, and played a significant role defensively early on when the Crew dominated possession, although he received a yellow card in the 13th minute.  Lee Nguyen made his 100th appearance for the New England Revolution, but had a somewhat quiet afternoon in a match that saw very little offensively.  Nguyen did lead all players on the field in fouls suffered (4), corner kicks (6), shots (3) and shots on goal (2), but nothing led to a Revolution goal.

Missing from Saturday’s game was Chris Tierney, who after playing every minute of the first five games missed the match with a left ankle sprain.  Also not in the starting lineup was Charlie Davies, who had started the previous two games at striker.  With the return of Teal Bunbury, Juan Agudelo moved to the striker role, pushing Davies to the bench.  Davies did make an appearance, coming on in the 59th minute for Kelyn Rowe.  Diego Fagundez also made his first appearance for the Revs in three games, as he came on for Juan Agudelo in the 77th minute.

For the Columbus Crew, they end a busy week that ended in two well-deserved road draws on the road at Vancouver and New England, and brings their record to 1-2-2 for the 2015 season.  They return to Ohio next week for their first ever match against Orlando City SC.  For the Revolution, their winning streak ends at two, but they extended their home unbeaten streak to 13 games, going back to a 3-0 win against Colorado on July 30, 2014.  The Revolution hit the road next weekend traveling to face the Philadelphia Union next Sunday.  Their next home game will be in two weeks on April 25th against Real Salt Lake for their only match-up this season.

Leave a Reply