New England Swallows Tough Loss

(Photo: David Silverman)

After pulling away with a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute, the New England Revolution could not hold in the second half, conceding two goals to Real Salt Lake and ultimately losing 2-1. The Revolution fall to 2-4-3 on the year, putting them all alone in 7th place with 9 points in the Eastern Conference.

The first half of play was dreadful at best, as the dreary rain seemed to bring on dreary play over the two clubs for the first 45 minutes. On seven corner kicks for the Revs, not one found it’s way on target in the first half. Scoring opened up in the second, starting with a New England goal in the 51st minute from Ryan Guy. Kelyn Rowe controlled the ball beautifully outside the box only to send it over as Guy struck a rocket out of the air and past Real Salt Lake goal keeper Nick Rimando. However Guy’s athletic back flip celebration may have come too soon.

New England fell back into a much too comfortable state following the goal, allowing a Devon Sandoval goal to come in the 77th minute from a rebound off Bobby Shuttleworth. The rookie’s strength was clearly enough to overpower Goncalves in front and tip the ball over Shuttleworth who was recovering from his fall to the ground. Following the equalizer, Olmes Garcia would give Real Salt Lake the lead just 12 minutes later, also sneaking a rebound goal past Bobby in the 89th minute. With the go-ahead goal in place, New England would find themselves in a tough situation down 2-1 with time ticking away.

A controversial yellow was given to Carlos Salcedo in extra time as he dragged down Revolution defender Stephen McCarthy on his attempt to complete a header in the box. This was Salcedo’s second yellow of the match, making the booking a red card with just minutes left. Unfortunately, a semi-healthy Saer Sene could not capitalize on the penalty kick. Keeper Nick Rimando read Sene like a book, moving to his lower-right side for the save and sealing up the victory for Real Salt Lake at 2-1.

Only mixed feelings can come from such a wild match since certain players looked great while others performed under par. Rowe and Nguyen once again continued to shine in the midfield while Andrew Farrell and Stephen McCarthy remained strong in the defensive core. After substitutions, a whole new game came about for Real Salt Lake. They found the back of the net twice and made Juan Toja look foolish towards the final minutes. Jerry Bengtson was once again non-productive, allowing a critical scoring opportunity early in the match to slip away.

Overall the Revs played solid considering their team is still quite injury plagued and an experienced Kalifa Cisse could not make the start in the 4-1-4-1 formation. The defense stood tall for most of the match but scoring will continue to be the focus of the team’s troubles. Just when it looked like the shots on target number was on the rise, New England put up a dismal 3 shots on net while Real recorded 7. Perhaps a healthy Juan Agudelo could turn these stats around since the Jerry-Fagundez scoring combo clearly is not impressing anyone.

The Revolution will look for a critical three points this Saturday when they host their Eastern Conference foe New York Red Bulls. April 20th was the last meeting between the two squads with New York capturing a 4-1 victory at Red Bull Arena. With the talents of Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill coming in, the Revs must step up the scoring to compete with the 20 point team. The match will kickoff at 7:30pm ET at Gillette Stadium. Coverage can be found on Comcast Sportsnet New England and 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Matt Bloom

Revs Find Offense, But Consistency Key

Struggling to find the stat sheet, Lee Nguyen put up an assist and goal to give the Revolution their second win of the year. (Photo Courtesy of the New England Revolution)

With implementation of the 4-1-4-1 formation last Saturday, New England found the firepower they were searching for, scoring 2 goals on the Philadelphia Union resulting in a 2-0 win. As the defense remains strong, head coach Jay Heaps may have found his play makers in Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe in the midfield.

A handful for defenders, Lee Nguyen was emerging as a play maker and goal scorer last season. Nguyen remained quiet until Saturday however, scoring no goals through the first six matches. One could feel a sense of urgency from the team as it felt like just one goal could get things rolling and help the Revs find their game. Thanks to Lee Nguyen’s great vision against the Union, he was able to find Rowe on the right hand side and lead to a beautiful through pass for Diego Fagundez’s first goal of the season.

Alongside a dominant performance by Nguyen was teammate Fagundez, whose small size played no role in stopping him from getting his fair chances of goal opportunities. Diego put up 3 shots of his own and crashed the box in perfect timing to put the Revs up 1-0 in the 61st minute. “It felt amazing,” said Fagundez. “You saw the stadium – pretty filled up tonight – so getting this win for Boston and for Kevin felt good for everyone. We’re all happy.” While Diego is finding his confidence it isn’t too early to wonder if he deserves the start over Saer Sene or Jerry Bengtson any given night.

Moving ahead, shots on target will remain the most important stat for New England. Seven shots on target Saturday was not an overwhelming amount, but considering the team has already went two games with zero this season, seven is better than none. Goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth has also shown his potential of recent, making alert decisions to stop Philadelphia goal threats and holding a season goal against average of 1.20. His skill be critical to success, especially with Matt Reis’ return in question.

The Revolution will head to Portland next for a challenging test at Jeld-Wen Field this Thursday. Not only will the team have to come out scoring, but the Timbers remain one of the hottest teams in the MLS, winning three of their last four matches and sitting comfortably in the Western Conference with 13 points. Kickoff is set at 10:30pm ET, with coverage found on Comcast Sportsnet and 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Matt Bloom

A Near Scoreless Start

After 5 games, Lee Nguyen is still searching for his first goal of 2013, as well as the team’s second.

New England is off to one of the most unusual starts Major League Soccer has ever seen, sporting a somewhat remarkable stat. Through five games played this season, they are both the worst offensive team and best defensive team in the league. Allowing just two goals, the Revolution have scored a sad one goal of their own and somehow sit 8th in the Eastern Conference at 1-2-2.

Last week’s draw against Seattle was the team’s second game in which they recorded zero shots on targets. It also marked the 4th game in a row the Revs have not scored, as their lone goal came in a 1-0 victory in Chicago to start the season. Although speculation arose whether or not the Revs could score in the absence of striker Saer Sene, no one predicted scoring to be this bad of a problem. Where has Bengtson been? Where has Nguyen been? Sure Sene is coming back to full health, but it is hard to tell if the team will get their swagger back so soon.

It is time for roster changes up top, possibly a formation change as well. Jay Heaps loves his 4-4-1-1 now because New England’s back line arguably the strongest in the MLS. Nothing is getting past Goncalves, Soares, or Farrell, but the team must open up the pitch to allow players like Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe play their run-and-gun style of offensive. Hopefully Heaps will shake things up when Sene returns to the Starting XI, placing both Sene and Bengtson in a more conventional 4-4-2 formation.

If all else fails New England may have to fit Chad Barrett or Diego Fagundez into the starting lineup more often. Although young and less experienced than their teammates, they could be the spark the club is looking for. A scoring drought cannot be ignored, and even though the next goal could be the one to get things rolling, that goal needs to come soon.

The Revolution will have a great opportunity to score this Saturday, as they face Eastern rival New York Red Bulls in Harrison, NJ. Kickoff is at 7pm ET, coverage can be found on the Comcast Sports Network or 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Matt Bloom

**All of us here as The Foxboro Fort wish Matt Reis’ father-in-law John Odem and Chris Tierney’s girlfriend a healthy recovery following the tragic events at the Boston Marathon**