The Young and the Wasteful
- Updated: April 19, 2017
Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz
Cody Cropper made a trio of strong saves to keep the Earthquakes at bay, but the Revolution offense didn’t hold up their end of the bargain in Wednesday’s 0-0 draw at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
Cropper’s stops on Fatai Alashe and Darwin Ceren in the latter stages helped him earn his second clean sheet of the season. On the other end of the pitch, the Revolution out-shot the Earthquakes 15-8, but were unable to find the break through against a plucky San Jose side.
With the draw, the Revolution went to eight points (2-3-2) while the Earthquakes improved to nine points (2-2-3).
What it means: Revolution coach Jay Heaps made four changes to the lineup used at Chicago, hoping to rest legs and get more speed from a decidedly smaller unit without the likes of Kei Kamara, Josh Smith and Xavier Kouassi. Despite some flashes before the break, the hosts were unable to find the final ball needed to get the breakthrough. Pitted against a team that flew cross country on short rest of Wednesday’s game, the scoreless draw has to be viewed as a disappointment for the Revolution, no matter how entertaining it may have been.
Stat of the match: In his first start since the Apr. 2 match at Portland, Revolution left back Chris Tierney led the field with 89 touches during Wednesday’s draw.
Angoua and Tierney back in XI: Two Revolution defenders who were dropped from the lineup in recent weeks made their way back to field on Wednesday. Benjamin Angoua, who was replaced by rookie Josh Smith at Portland earlier this month, reclaimed his spot at center back next to Antonio Mlinar Delamea. Meanwhile, veteran left back Chris Tierney assumed his old role after Kelyn Rowe and Je-Vaughn Watson started over him during the last two games.
Kamara, Smith, and Kouassi rested: With the Revolution on short rest following Saturday’s loss at Chicago, Kei Kamara, Josh Smith, and Xavier Kouassi were left out of the lineup against San Jose. With Kouassi and Kamara on the bench, Diego Fagundez returned to the XI while Daigo Kobayashi earned his first start in league play since last summer. Despite their exclusion from the lineup, Kamara and Kouassi both put in second half cameos.
DC United on tap: The Revolution return to action on Saturday when they host DC United. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm. Last year, the Revolution went 0-2-1 against their longtime rivals.
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