No matter how many guys the New England Revolution seem to lose or no matter how daunting the circumstances, they almost always find a way to scrape out some points.
Consider Thursday's 2-2 draw at Gillette Stadium with D.C. United a case in point.
Outplayed for most of the contest, New England found a way to rally in the second half despite a two-goal deficit and a first-half performance that Revs head coach Steve Nicol didn't particularly appreciate.
Nicol showed his disdain for the performance by making a first-half substitution, sending on Adam Cristman to play striker and switching Sainey Nyassi back into midfield.
"To be fair, we couldn't get the ball forward anyway (in the first half)," Nicol said. "The change helped us, that's without a shadow of a doubt. First half, they were bringing the ball to us, and we couldn't get out. So we decided to switch it around and get in behind them."
The second half brought better play and increased pressure in the midfield. Cristman justified his insertion with a second-half goal before Kheli Dube netted his third goal in three games to earn New England a point that didn't appear likely at halftime.
"As a football match, we got outplayed from start to finish," Nicol said. "Sometimes the good old heart gets you something you didn't deserve. The second half, anyway, I have no complaints. The effort and the commitment -- every single thing -- they couldn't have given anymore, which got us a point."
Much of the praise went to Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis, who followed up a timely performance in Columbus with a dominant one against United. While United scored two, Reis ensured the number of goals didn't rise to equate with the numerous chances the visitors generated.
"(Matt Reis) made, what, five one-on-one saves to keep us in the game," Nicol questioned.
The busy goalkeeper said that his team needs to improve its home form in order to maintain its place atop the Eastern Conference. The solution in Reis' eyes lies in playing the possession game the team prefers, starting matches stronger, and translating the heart shown in the second half over the entire contest.
"We have to stick to doing what we do best: getting the ball wide and getting it into the box whether we have our first choice forwards or our second choice forwards," Reis said. "We got some scrappy goals and we got the free kick to equalize it. We came out flat and we got thumped. But we showed a lot of heart to come back."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
