FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - After a resounding 2-0 victory against the second-place Kansas City Wizards on Thursday night, the New England Revolution expected to build upon the win with a similar effort on Sunday afternoon against D.C. United.
It didn't happen. New England was run off the park by United. The 3-0 loss handed the Revs only their fourth loss of the season and fourth scoreless game of the season.
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol expressed his dismay with his side's performance. The loss was the worst by the Revolution at Gillette Stadium, which opened in 2002. The last home defeat of this magnitude came at the now-demolished Foxboro Stadium on Aug. 11, 2001, a 4-1 defeat to the now-defunct Miami Fusion.
"We were just awful," Nicol said. "You name it, we didn't do it."
One could have named all the things New England did correctly on Thursday night, including keeping possession of the ball and creating numerous offensive chances, as things that they failed to do on Sunday.
"We can't blame anyone but ourselves because we were really poor in every facet of the game," Nicol said.
Mental errors, perhaps fatigue-related as the Revolution are in the midst of four matches in a 10-day stretch, littered the contest for the home team.
The normally sure-handed Matt Reis muffed a Clyde Simms shot and didn't cover the rebound for the first goal by Joshua Gros, while the entire back line was caught out by a quick free kick for Luciano Emilio's second and United's third.
"[The ball] was sitting there and I didn't realize he was as close as he was," Reis said. "I wasn't aware that he was there, but I should have covered it up quicker. But that's indicative of the game: they were hungrier and they wanted the game more than we did. We let it happen."
At the other end, New England struggled to create chances even when the team shifted to three forwards with 20 minutes left in the contest.
It was a display that left Revs captain Steve Ralston wondering why his team hadn't shown up.
"I wish I had an answer," Ralston said. "There was one team on the field today and it wasn't us. We were second to every ball."
Ralston admitted that it was a frustrating display coming off the heels of the positive result on Thursday night.
"You're trying to build on something and we certainly didn't," Ralston said.
Reis labeled the loss "surprising and disappointing" and admitted that his team needed to stave off mental fatigue as the season continued.
"Mentally, we have to be stronger," Reis said.
To compound the misery, Revolution center back Michael Parkhurst was withdrawn in the 37th minute after he hyperextended his right knee.
Parkhurst was seen holding crutches after the game, although he believes that the injury is not long-term.
"I'm not worried about any possible long-term damage," Parkhurst said. "I'm going to be here early in the morning and we'll go from there. It's nothing serious."
Reis said that Parkhurst is a necessary and crucial component to the side.
"Hopefully, he can get back sooner rather than later," Reis said. "He's a big part of this team."
The only positive to the defeat is the fact that New England has an opportunity to rectify it quickly with Wednesday's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal match against USL Second Division side Harrisburg City Islanders at Gillette Stadium.
Nicol said that his side could see some changes depending on fitness, but that his team's focus is squarely on the Open Cup match.
"We'll look forward to getting another chance on Wednesday," Nicol said. "We have a great opportunity to advance in the Open Cup."
