In their only nationally televised home game of the season, the New England Revolution (5-4-4) soundly defeated the LA Galaxy (6-5-2) by a score of 5-0. Goals from Saer Sene, Lee Nguyen, Diego Fagundez, Chad Barrett and Keyln Rowe helped make the statement that the Revs are legitimate contenders.
The Revolution endured heavy pressure from the Galaxy during the game’s opening minutes. Bobby Shuttleworth battled the wind while blocking shots from Marcelo Sarvas, Juninho and Gyasi Zardes.
The Revs withstood the onslaught and made good on their first real chance of the game when Sene and Fagundez combined to open the scoring in the 33rd minute. The goal was Sene’s first of the season and it came after the Frenchman got his first assist of the year last weekend. Sene’s strike proved to be the difference-maker heading into the locker room at halftime.
Head coach Jay Heaps was impressed by Sene’s first league start and commented, “I thought Saer does what he does. We wanted to get him a start. It was a conversation we had early in the year and he was coming back from injury.”
The Galaxy remained competitive in the second half until things started falling apart in the game’s final 20 minutes. The Revs scored an insurance goal in the 71st minute after miscommunication between the head referee and his assistant caused confusion. Although the assistant referee flagged for a throw-in, the head referee chose to reprimand Landon Donovan for fouling Andrew Farrell. While the Galaxy players complained, Fagundez took a quick free kick which allowed Nguyen to get his second goal of season.
“The linesman pointed his flag for us,” Donovan explained. “I was moving forward to get the throw-in and the next thing I knew, the referee inexplicably called a foul. They were in our box and then from there it was a goal.”
From there, the Revs dominated. In the 87th minute, Fagundez earned his fourth goal in four games after he collected a Rowe pass and beat Carlos Cudicini. Rowe was also instrumental in the game’s third goal since he sent a square pass to Barrett. Barrett had only been on the field for three minutes when he scored his first regular season goal for the Revs. The former Galaxy player returned the favor in the 94th minute when he assisted on Rowe’s capper.
“The guys on this team, we have so many good attacking players on this squad now,” said Chris Tierney. “There are so many players that can hurt you, especially coming on fresh like that. I am not surprised that we scored five. It is always possible with the squad we have this year.”
With three straight league victories, the Revs are currently on their longest winning streak of the Heaps era. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that the Revs have outscored their opponents 9-0 in the last three games. While Fagundez (five goals) and Agudelo (four goals) have certainly been on form, it should also be noted that Rowe’s five assists ties him with Graham Zusi as the league’s best playmaker.
Despite the impressive numbers, Heaps prefers to remain focused.
“We have five wins now,” said Heaps. “It’s important to use this as a learning experience. Like I said there’s really good stuff we did but there’s things we have to get better at and we can’t let a game get so wide open when we have a two-goal lead.”
Three Observations and Revelations
1. The Revolution has used 13 unique lineups. Due to injuries, player form and other circumstances, Heaps has yet to use the exact same lineup twice. While consistency is often lauded as being essential during a good run, it should also be considered that the Revs are difficult to scout because of their deep, rotating squad. Besides third string keeper Luis Soffner and the Rochester loanees, all players have earned minutes this season with many contributing in important ways.
2. The Revs made good on their opportunities. The Galaxy finished with a higher passing accuracy (79% to 76%) and more of the possession (60.1% to 39.9%) but the Revolution proved to be better in front of the net. The Revs scored five goals in nine attempts with two of the remainders going off target and two being bloacked. In comparison, the Galaxy made 13 attempts with five missing the target and two being blocked. Confidence and good form have apparently arrived to the Revs, a team that suffered through two games with no shots on target.
3. Bengtson and Barrett were different subs. Jerry Bengtson replaced Sene in the 65th minute and contributed little to the game. Bengtson, who has now joined Honduras in preparation for World Cup Qualifying, was tackled to lose possession on four occasions while having 50% passing accuracy and one unsuccessful dribble. Bengtson's biggest contributions included an unsuccessful cross and an earned foul. Meanwhile, Barrett impressed in his six minutes of play by offering five completed passes, one assist and one goal. Bengtson isn’t a bad striker and certainly has value to many. However, he has struggled in the Revs current setup.
(image courtesy of Kari Heistad)
