Jones’ Late Goal Lifts Revolution To Huge Road Win
Friday, September 26, 2014
In a classic, tough Eastern Conference battle, the New England Revolution traveled into "Blue Hell" also known as Sporting Park to take on Sporting Kansas City. The Eastern Conference foes battled back-and-forth throughout the entire game, but got the game winner off the foot of Jermaine Jones in the 85th minute to pull into 2nd place in the Eastern Conference.
The action got started early as Sporting Kansas City won a free kick from about 25 yards out in the 4th minute. Sporting won the free kick by stripping possession from the Revolution. Dom Dwyer took the free kick that curled wide of the net. Before the free kick Bobby Shuttleworth and his defense were having trouble communicating, allowing a lane for Dwyer to shoot.
Sporting stayed on the attack in the 13th minute from former Revolution midfielder Benny Feilhaber. Feilhaber got the ball when Kelyn Rowe left a 50/50 ball into the middle of the field in front of the Revolution net. Feilhaber was the only person around the ball and he tried to loop a shot over the top of Shuttleworth but it sat on top of the net.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Revs got their first semi-opportunity in the 18th minute on a Kelyn Rowe free kick. The free kick came from close to 40 yards out, but Rowe put a good foot on it and made it to the net. The ball was easily saved by Eric Kronberg.
The Revs first true attack came in the 22nd minute and resulted in a Revolution goal from Kelyn Rowe. The lead up to the play was a beautiful crossover from Kevin Alston who was fed the ball by Teal Bunbury. Alston made a perfect cross to Rowe who had a simple tap in to give the Revolution the 1-0 lead. It was Rowe's 4th goal of the season. For Alston, it was his 2nd assist of the year while Bunbury picked up his 5th assist. With the assist, Bunbury made sure he recorded at least one point in each of the three games against his former team.
The Revs nearly found the goal again in the 26th minute when Charlie Davies curled a shot just wide of the far post. Davies got the ball on a beautiful through-ball from Lee Nguyen. Davies took a touch before ripping the shot that was unable to curl into the far corner.
The Revs continued to control the pace of play through the 35th minute when captain Jose Goncalves made a run up the middle of the field and buried a goal. Goncalves made an unmarked run through the middle of the field and took a shot that rolled past Kronberg for his 1st goal of the year. It was just the 3rd goal of Goncalves' career.
Sporting KC was able to get a good chance in the 37th minute when Toni nearly floated a shot in. He took the shot from about 25 yards out, and at first the ball appeared destined to go over the crossbar. The ball dipped down before the net, however, forcing Bobby Shuttleworth to make a save.
The Revs came right back with another free kick, this time Chris Tierney nearly found the net but Kronberg made a great diving save. The Revs won the free kick when Lee Nguyen got fouled hard by Jorge Claros when he made a move to get past him. Tierney took a low free kick to his left, but Kronberg made a diving save to keep the game 2-0.
The Revs carried the 2-0 lead into the half, controlling the pace of play for the later part of the half. Both teams took six shots in the 1st half, the Revs were able to put two on target while Sporting KC put just one on target. The Revolution actually lost the possession battle by a large margin in the half with Sporting KC holding a 63.4% to 36.6% advantage.
The 2nd half started much like the 1st half ended, with the Revs on the attack. The Revolution got the ball on the foot of Teal Bunbury following a Lee Nguyen takeaway. Bunbury played Nguyen the ball back before Nguyen was cut down making a run. The ball went to Diago Kobayashi who had his shot blocked inside the box. Charlie Davies made an attempt at the ball but it was cleared free to end the threat.
Sporting KC was able to respond, however, getting a goal in the 54th minute from Paulo Nagamura. Nagamura got a great through ball from Kevin Ellis to break free of the defense. Revolution defender Jose Goncalves was looking for the offsides call on the play, but it was not awarded and Nagamura had an open lane to goal before beating Shuttleworth high to make it a 2-1 game.
Just moments later, Sporting KC was able to draw the game even on their second goal in two minutes. The goal came off the head of Dom Dwyer following a build-up that say Toni get the ball to Nagamura. Nagamura had his ball popped in the air towards the net and Dwyer was there to head it into the open net and make it 2-2. With the goals, a clear momentum shift was visible as Sporting KC started to dominate possession.
Sporting KC stayed on the attack in the 63rd, 65th, 67th and 69th minutes as Bobby Shuttleworth was forced to make save after save. Graham Zusi, Soony Saad, Paulo Nagamura and Igor Juliao made strong shots on target, forcing Shuttleworth to punch multiple shots away. Shuttleworth's ability to make the four saves kept the game level at 2-2.
The Revs were finally able to end the attack on Shuttleworth when Lee Nguyen broke free in the 70th minute and put a shot on frame, but it was easily saved by Kronberg.
The Revs were able to pull ahead again in the 85th minute and it came from their new superstar midfielder Jermaine Jones. Jones got a good ball from Lee Nguyen and worked his way across the top of the box before finding a bit of space to shoot. Jones put the ball hard and to the right post, sneaking it past Kronberg. It was Jones' first goal as a member of the Revolution and MLS. The assist was awarded to Lee Nguyen. The Revolution were 3-0-0 coming into the game in matches started by Jones. The assist was Nguyen's fifth on the season.
The Revs held on through the rest of regulation and five minutes of stoppage to survive a huge win on the road. With the win the Revolution move into 2nd place in the Eastern Conference with 45 points on a 14-13-3 record. They will return home newt Saturday to take on the Columbus Crew.
