Revs Stay Red-Hot, Win Fifth Straight
Saturday, September 13, 2014
It was a cool, rainy night at Gillette Stadium, but that did not slow the red-hot New England Revolution down. The Revs won their 5th-straight match and 4th-straight at home 2-1 over the Montreal Impact.
The Revolution got the action started early as Jermaine Jones put a shot on target early. In just the 3rd minute of the game the Revs won a free kick from about 30-yards out. Jones and Lee Nguyen lined up, both having the opportunity to take the kick. Jones took the free kick low and to Montreal keeper Troy Perkins' left. Perkins was forced to make a diving save.
The Impact were on the attack in the 8th minute as Dilly Duka challenged Bobby Shuttleworth. The play was set up off a good run up the right side by Andres Romero. Romero crossed the ball to Duka who turned and took the shot on target. He was challenged by Diago Kobayashi on the shot, but it still went through the defense and forced Shuttleworth to make a diving save.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Impact then found the first goal of the night in the 13th minute. Montreal got the goal off a nice run of play that started with Mamadou Danso lobbing a ball forward to Jack McInerney. The Revs defense were looking for the offsides call on McInerney, but did not get the call. McInerney then put an easy pass into Calum Mallace, who buried the easy goal and gave the Impact the 1-0 lead.
"It went exactly how we thought it was going to go," Revolution coach Jay Heaps said following the game. "We thought we were going to have a lot of the ball, a lot of possession. The one thing we didn't want to do was give up a mistake or a turnover, and we did. We gave up a turnover and they scored."
The Revs were able to bring the game equal in the 23rd minute on a blast from Kelyn Rowe. Rowe got the ball on a clearance attempt by the Impact, following a Jermaine Jones cross attempt. The clearance made it as far as Rowe, who made a break for the middle of the field and took a shot from about 25-yards out with Anthony Jackson-Hamel in front of him. The defense did not matter as Rowe hammered the shot past the diving Perkins, who did get a hand on the ball, and into the net to draw it equal at 1-1. It was the 3rd goal of the season for Rowe, who broke out his signature "Rowe-ing" celebration on the Gillette Stadium boards after the goal.
Your boy @Krowe210 ties it up for the #NERevs, 1-1! https://t.co/qiWdbUjcnj
— NE Revolution (@NERevolution) September 14, 2014
Just two minutes later the Revs were back on the attack and found the go-ahead goal from Lee Nguyen. The play was set up on a strong effort from Jermaine Jones, getting the ball and flicking it forward to Charlie Davies. Davies pushed a header towards Nguyen who eluded multiple Impact defenders and got around Perkins before flicking a shot over two defenders for the goal. It was Nguyen's 13th goal of the season, tying him for the most goals in a season by a Revolution midfielder with Diego Fagundez who set the record in 2013. The assists went to both Jones and Davies.
The goal was the MLS-leading 7th game-winning goal for Nguyen. "I played it back to Jones, Jermaine," Nguyen said following the game. "He played a great little dink to Charlie. Charlie did a good job to get above [Mamadou Danso] and played a little flick on it. From there I just had to get to the ball first. I guess on the wet surface it just took a bit of a fortunate hop. Then I was bale to get around Perkins and fortunately, the dink worked."
While Nguyen was commenting on his goal, Revolution forward Charlie Davies was chanting "MVP" from his locker just feet away.
M.V.LEE makes it 2-1, #NERevs! https://t.co/Ewv7vGimvK
— NE Revolution (@NERevolution) September 14, 2014
The Revs carried the 2-1 lead into halftime. Both teams took seven shots in the 1st half but the Revolution held a four-to-two advantage in shots on target. The Revs also held a 60.7% to 39.3% advantage in possession.
Following the half, Jermaine Jones was no longer on the field for the Revolution. Jones was officially announced to have a foot/leg injury from the Revolution. Jones was in the Revolution locker room following the match with a walking boot on his left foot. When asked about the injury Jones said, "Of course. I don’t know the name of that player but he tried maybe two or three times, he tried without the ball to kick me. One time, he got it.
"It’s not nice when you feel like you have players that try to hurt you, and this guy tried to hurt me."
The Impact nearly drew the game even in the 53rd minute when Eric Miller rung a shot off the post. Miller got free on the left side of the field when it appeared that Kelyn Rowe lost his defensive mark. Miller got a free run in on net and let off a low shot that got past Shuttleworth but hit the near post and bounced out in front of the Revolution net. Jose Goncalves was in place to clear the ball and end the threat.
The Revolution created a few chances in the next run of play, but both right on Perkins for easy saves. The first came from Lee Nguyen on a free kick in the 56th minute and the second from Teal Bunbury in the 59th minute.
The Revs, specifically Lee Nguyen, were back on the attack and nearly found the net in the 64th minute. Nguyen split two Montreal defenders and unleashed a shot on Perkins. Perkins got a piece of the ball but it trickled through and appeared to be destined for the back of the net. Eric Miller, however, came sliding in to clear the ball off the line and keep the Revs lead at 2-1.
The Revs got an advantage late in the game as Krzysztof Krol was shown a red card after his second yellow card of the night in the 62nd minute.
The Revs continued to put pressure on Perkins in the 69th minute, getting back-to-back chances. First Teal Bunbury hammered a hard shot on target, but Perkins punched it away. Just moments later, Charlie Davies made a great turn and delivered a hard shot that was turned away by Perkins again.
In the 76th minute the fans at Gillette Stadium got a chance to see a glimpse at the potential future of the Revs attack as Geoffrey Castillion subbed into the game for Charlie Davies. The 6-3 Castillion made his MLS and Revolution debut. "It was tough for me. It was a little while [since] I played a game. I liked it very much. Now up to the next game."
Heaps said of Castillion's performance, "I think we may have pushed him in a little too soon." But also was complementary of Castillion's training with the Revolution, stating he "earned his minutes tonight."
The Revs nearly found the net again off the foot of Lee Nguyen in the 88th minute. Nguyen unleashed a strong free kick that was curling towards the near post, but Perkins again made a terrific save.
.... How? https://t.co/PbGutncXaO
— NE Revolution (@NERevolution) September 14, 2014
The Revs were able to sit behind the ball for the remainder of the game and finish their 5th-straight win. With the win the Revs improve to 42 points with a 13-12-3 record. They end their four-game home stand with a 4-0-0 record. Overall the Revolution are unbeaten in their past six games, going 5-0-1. They will travel to Columbus next Saturday to take on the Crew. "We know, obviously, that you need to win games at home to be a good team, a playoff team, a team that's going to win the [MLS Cup]," Rowe said following the game. "We know how to get hot at the right times; you've seen that the past couple of years. So I think this is our time. We've just gotta keep going."
_1_400_342_90.jpg)
_1_400_267_90.jpg)
_1_80_80_90_c1.jpg)
_1_80_80_90_c1.jpg)
