The New England Revolution earned a playoff berth for the first time since 2009 when they defeated the Columbus Crew 1-0 on Sunday. Juan Agudelo’s goal in the 28th minute snapped a scoreless streak that dated back to August 25th and helped the Revs cap a perfect October during which they went 3-0-1.
The Crew, who was eliminated from the playoff contention last weekend, looked lively in the opening minutes. The home team nearly got on the scoreboard in the third minute when Dominic Oduro intercepted AJ Soares’ pass to Jose Goncalves, but the speedster’s shot was denied by Matt Reis. Jairo Arrieta threatened the Revolution’s net in the 27th minute but his long-range effort was just wide of the target.
“When you’re playing against a team in their last home game of the year – and they are a good team – you have to bring everything you have and that is what we did tonight,” Heaps commented.
The Revs got their first real opportunity of the game when Agudelo accepted a pass from Andrew Farrell. The crafty Colombian back heeled the ball to Lee Nguyen who played a return pass. Agudelo would then fire a low shot past Andy Gruenebaum for his ninth goal of the year, his seventh in Revolution colors.
“Me and Lee have pretty good chemistry and there was a little bit of “joga [bonito]” in there, so that was fun,” Agudelo explained. “Those goals are just what builds the team and builds chemistry, when you play like a team and it’s fun.”
With only one goal needed to make the playoffs, the Revs took a more defensive approach to the game. Struggling to create opportunities, the Crew scarified defender Augstin Viana for forward Justin Meram. Meram had an immediate on the game when he played a long ball to Ryan Finley in the 78th minute. The rookie forward controlled the ball well but was unable to beat an onrushing Reis.
“We knew we needed the win,” Nguyen said. “If we had to go 90 minutes holding them to zero we’re going to do it. I though the team did really well. I thought Matt was huge on a couple plays.”
Frustrations for the home side culminated in a 90th minute red card for Oduro. Prior to the foul, Oduro was battling Kelyn Rowe in the Revolution’s defensive third. After the ball was safely cleared, the Ghana native kicked the ankles of the Rowe. The card meant that the Crew would have to play the eight minutes of stoppage time with only 10 men.
“It was only fitting [to have eight minutes of stoppage time],” Heaps remarked. “We’ve had everything kind of stacked against us with injuries, calls going against us, goals taken back, and we had to just dig deep and eight minutes was kind of fitting to make sure we got through it.”
The Revs nearly capitalized on the man advantage in the 95th minute when Diego Fagundez put Nguyen behind the defense. Nguyen slid at the ball but Gruenebaum showed no fear in coming off his line and making the stop. The missed opportunity didn’t come back to haunt the Revs as the game finished 1-0.
“It wasn’t the prettiest game,” Heaps stated. “It showed a lot more heart than any other game I have seen because there were situations where we had to fight and dig in deep. If you look at the possession battle we lost it, but every other battle I feel like we won.”
The Revs finished the season in third place and will now play second place Sporting KC, a team that they went 0-1-1 against this year.
3 Observations
1.Chris Tierney is still this team’s starting left back. With Tierney harboring an ankle injury, Kevin Alston got his first start since August 10th. Alston was tasked with keeping tabs on Oduro, which is no easy assignment given that he had scored a career-high 13 goals heading into the game. Alston had some positive moments but often seemed behind the play. Furthermore, the former MLS All-Star offered little width and few attacking opportunities. If healthy, Tierney is the team’s first choice left back.
2.The Dorman-Caldwell battle will continue. After a Man of the Match performance against the Crew last weekend, Dorman earned his second consecutive start. The veteran midfielder was active throughout the night and had a decent chance on goal. However, Dorman can still be a liability with his tackling and there were a number of times when he was late to the ball. None of the plays were egregious but you have to wonder if Dorman is showing his age or just working off the rust. Caldwell, meanwhile, brings a more possession-oriented game but has struggled recently. The rookie came on in the 80th minute and almost immediately committed a foul in a dangerous spot. Heaps will have to think long and hard before he names a full-time defensive midfielder.
3.The Revs did the (seemingly) impossible. Conspiracy theorists will say that the league doesn’t want the Revs to succeed. Regardless of where you stand on this thesis, there is no denying the Revs beat the odds to earn their playoff position. Heart-wrenching off-the-field travesties, devastating injuries and questionable refereeing made the playoffs seem far-fetched. Furthermore, results in the Eastern Conference hardly ever went the Revs’ way. The fight and determination shown by Heaps’ men has been rewarded with a trip to the postseason.
(image courtesy of Kari Heistad)
