Columbus Crew vs. New England Revolution | MLS Match Preview

COLUMBUS CREW vs NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
COLUMBUS CREW STADIUM, Columbus, Ohio
Sept. 20, 2014 (WEEK 28, MLS Game #270)
7:30 p.m. ET (TWCS-OH; CSN-NE)

A crucial match in the Eastern Conference playoff picture is ahead when the Columbus Crew entertain the New England Revolution on Saturday evening at Crew Stadium. The Crew are tied for fifth place and the final playoff position in the division, coming off a 2-2 draw at the Houston Dynamo last weekend. The Revolution are riding yet another five-game winning streak, having moved into third place in the conference following another come-from-behind victory, a 2-1 triumph over the Montréal Impact at Gillette Stadium last Saturday.

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REFEREE: Ted Unkel. AR1 (bench): Jeff Muschik; AR2 (opposite): Kyle Longville; 4th: Sorin Stoica
MLS Career: 12 games; FC/gm: 24.1; Y/gm: 3.0; R: 3; pens: 4

SUSPENDED: NE: Teal Bunbury (caution accumulation; through Sept. 21)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CLB: Bernardo Anor, Waylon Francis … NE: Chris Tierney
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CLB: Federico Higuain … NE: Lee Nguyen, Daigo Kobayashi, Kelyn Rowe, A.J. Soares, Darrius Barnes, Scott Caldwell
DISABLED LIST: CLB: Kingsley Baiden (season-ending injury)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (61 meetings): Crew 30 wins (4 shootout), 95 goals … Revolution 20 wins (1 shootout), 78 goals … Ties 11
AT COLUMBUS (30 meetings): Crew 16 wins (1 shootout), 57 goals…Revolution 8 wins (1 shootout), 36 goals…Ties 6
FUTURE MATCH: 10/4: New England Revolution vs. Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. ET

2014 (MLS)
7/26: NE 1, CLB 2 (Soares 50 – Higuain 43; Finlay 84)

• The teams are meeting for the second time this season. Ethan Finlay scored in the 84th minute to snap a 1-1 deadlock and give the Crew the victory July 26 at Gillette Stadium.
• The win in the first meeting snapped a four-game Revolution winning streak in the series, the Crew’s first win vs. New England since Aug. 25, 2012. When the Revs won last year in Columbus, it was their first triumph there since a 1-0 victory on the final day of the 2009 season that gave them a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
• Coaches record: Jay Heaps vs. CLB: P7 W4 L2 T1 … Gregg Berhalter vs. NE: P1 W1 L0 T0

LAST MEETING (MLS)

• The Crew took the lead in the 43rd minute. After Ethan Finlay was taken down just outside the top of the box, Federico Higuain whistled the resulting free kick over the wall, finding nothing but the back of the net.
• The Revolution drew even five minutes after the second-half restart. Kelyn Rowe sent in a corner kick from the right and A.J. Soares met it with a snap header at the near post to make it 1-1.
• But the Crew found the decider six minutes from the end. Justin Meram collected the ball at midfield and drove a long pass up the center of the field through to Finlay, who held off a defender before slotting past 'keeper Bobby Shuttleworth for the eventual match-winner.
• COLUMBUS CREW (4-4-1-1): Steve Clark - Chad Barson (Eric Gehrig 83), Giancarlo Gonzalez, Michael Parkhurst, Waylon Francis - Ethan Finlay, Wil Trapp, Tony Tchani, Bernardo Anor (Justin Meram 83) - Federico Higuain - Adam Bedell (Aaron Schoenfeld 65).
• NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-1-4-1): Bobby Shuttleworth - Andrew Farrell, A.J. Soares, Jose Goncalves, Chris Tierney (Darrius Barnes 21) - Scott Caldwell - Diego Fagundez, Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen, Teal Bunbury (Daigo Kobayashi 81) - Patrick Mullins (Dimitry Imbongo 67).

COLUMBUS CREW

The Columbus Crew got a result for a second consecutive match, coming back for a 2-2 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Saturday evening at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Crew are in a tie for fifth place in the Eastern Conference, with 37 points from 28 matches.

LAST MATCH

• The Dynamo had the lead after 12 minutes when Crew forward Aaron Schoenfeld, battling with Dynamo center back A.J. Cochran, won the header on a corner kick but turned the ball into his own goal.
• The doubled the lead in the 38th minute. A sharp through ball Omar Cummings found strike partner in the box Giles Barnes, and he chipped it over onrushing Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark inside the far post to make it 2-0.
• But the Crew pulled a goal back just three minutes into the second half. Wil Trapp settled a Waylon Francis throw-in from goal and with no defender within 10 yards snuck a long-range shot past goalkeeper Tyler Deric.
• Six minutes later the Crew equalized. This time it was Ethan Finlay taking advantage of space. Federico Higuain hit a sharp cross to the back post and with no defender marking, Finlay powered a header home from the corner of the goal area.
• Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter made two changes to the team that defeated Chivas USA 3-0 at Crew Stadium. Tony Tchani and Wil Trapp returned from suspension, into the midfield in place of Kevan George and Daniel Paladini.
• COLUMBUS CREW (4-2-3-1): Steve Clark - Eric Gehrig (Hector Jimenez 46), Michael Parkhurst, Tyson Wahl, Waylon Francis - Tony Tchani, Wil Trapp - Ethan Finlay, Federico Higuain, Justin Meram (Bernardo Anor 46) - Aaron Schoenfeld (Jairo Arrieta 75).

TEAM NEWS

• The Crew were able to get a result from their second away match out of the last three. They return home riding a three-game winning streak at Crew Stadium.
• “We feel like we can beat any team, whether on the road or at home,” said Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter said. “So I would have loved three points, but looking at it now, we'll certainly accept one point, especially the way we did it. … It was a gut check. We clearly weren't happy with the first half performance, but we had to get after it in the second half and we did that.”
• It was the eighth time this season the Crew were able to salvage at least a point after conceding the opening goal (2-8-6).
• “I think it’s pretty clear that the first half wasn’t great and I think we’re too impatient, we weren’t accurate enough with our passing and as a result we turned the ball over too easily,” said Berhalter. “And second half, obviously I’m really pleased with our response and the effort and the ball movement and everything … I’m proud of the team and how they fought back.”
• Ethan Finlay scored his seventh goal of the season, after not netting a single goal in league play over his first two years (34 total appearances). He has three goals and three assists over the last eight games.
• “I just think that we settled down and were patient with the ball and we played our game, moved the ball side-to-side, and we were rewarded with it in the first 15 minutes of the second half,” Finlay said. “Maybe a little unfortunate not to get the third, but you can’t be too upset about the result.”
• Wil Trapp scored the first league goal of his MLS career, after 38 appearances, returning to the lineup from a one-match suspension. He also has two assists this season.
• “I think the group has come together nicely,” Berhalter said. “I think it’s going to be an interesting push toward the last six games and toward the playoffs. When you look at these teams and you look at the competition in the East, it’s exciting. And we’re going to be competing.”
• Fullback Waylon Francis has recorded three assists in the last two games, setting up both goals in the draw in Houston. Francis has six assists this season, five of them coming over his last six games.
• “Waylon went after it. He gave every ounce of energy he had and I thought his willingness to get forward – he put them in very difficult positions and he kept a good performance with two assists,” said Berhalter.
• Said Finlay: “He’s been active the last couple of games so it’s nice to see him get rewarded with two assists in a very important game and got a very important point. It’s great, and hopefully we get that kind of performance going forward.”
• The Crew have lost midfielder Daniel Paladini for the remainder of the season after he underwent surgery to repair a broken tibia and fibula in his right leg, suffered in a training ground accident.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION

The New England Revolution made it five wins in a row, coming back for a 2-1 win against the Montréal Impact on Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution are in third place in the Eastern Conference with 42 points from 28 games.

LAST MATCH

• The Impact took the lead just 13 minutes in. Mamadou Danso sent a ball over the top to Jack McInerney in the box, and when he was left with just Revs goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth to beat, McInerney slid the ball square to Calum Mallace, who slotted home into a wide-open goal.
• The Revs responded in the 23rd minute when Kelyn Rowe beat Anthony Jackson-Hamel to a loose ball outside the box, pushed it to his left and stepped into it, firing a dipping strike was just hard enough to sail past the hands of Montreal goalkeeper Troy Perkins.
• Two minutes later New England pulled ahead. From a quick buildup out of midfield, Jermaine Jones lofted a pass up to Charlie Davies, who in turn flicked a header over to Lee Nguyen. He then carried into the box and after Perkins went to ground, chipped a floater over the 'keeper for the eventual game-winner.
• The Impact finished the game a man down after fullback Krzysztof Krol was sent off in the 62nd minute by referee Alan Kelly for a second bookable offense.
• Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made three changes to the team that came back for a 2-1 victory against the Chicago Fire at Gillette Stadium. Teal Bunbury, Daigo Kobayashi and Charlie Davies all came back into the team, in place of Scott Caldwell, Diego Fagundez and Patrick Mullins.
• NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-2-3-1): Bobby Shuttleworth - Andrew Farrell, Jose Goncalves, A.J. Soares, Darrius Barnes - Jermaine Jones (Scott Caldwell 46), Daigo Kobayashi - Teal Bunbury (Diego Fagundez 76), Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe - Charlie Davies (Geoffrey Castillion 76).

TEAM NEWS

• The Revolution have won five games in a row for a second time this season, also putting together a five-game win streak April 26-May 24. It’s one game shy of the club record set April 9-May 14, 2005.
• It was a third consecutive game where the Revolution came back to take all three points after conceding the opening goal. In their first 13 games this season when they allowed the first goal, they had one win and one draw.
• “Now that we’ve done it a few times there’s that belief. Even going down a goal, it was clear that we were going to get our chances and we were going to have opportunities to win the game,” said Revolution head coach Jay Heaps. “So, I think that it’s not only a belief, but it’s also understanding that we’ve done it so there’s a little bit of experience doing it.”
• Said Lee Nguyen: “I think it’s our mentality and also our will to keep fighting. We don’t keep our head down when we get scored against and at the same time we’re looking to not only score one goal, but we want to keep attacking.”
• Jermaine Jones recorded an assist for a third consecutive game since his arrival in MLS, making a third consecutive start in the center of midfield. But Jones was forced off at halftime after suffering an ankle injury.
• “I think you can see that the team is in good shape. Still, we have to learn that not every game we can come back with a win. We have to be focused and sometimes we give away the goals too easily,” said Jones. “As you’ve seen the last few games, we can be lucky and happy that we come back and win the games. We always manage to do it in difficult ways. Sometimes though, we just have to play it easy. When we play the way we know how to play, there are not many teams in the league that can beat us.”
• Lee Nguyen scored his fifth goal over the last five games, after a three-game goalscoring run was put to an end the week before. Nguyen is tied for sixth in the MLS Golden Boot standings.
• “(My confidence) has a lot to do with the guys around me. They’ve been playing great. Defensively we’ve been strong and they’re keeping us in games and that helps us attacking players go forward and gives confidence knowing we can change the game, we can make a play and I think that’s all you can ask for from the team,” said Nguyen.
• Kelyn Rowe scored his third goal this season, and has two goals and two assists over the last five matches, dating back to Aug. 23.
• It doesn’t matter what (Kelyn Rowe’s) doing, he’ll shoot from everywhere. Kelyn has a cannon. He shoots the heck out of the ball. We joke, it’s always when he’s a little off-footed,” said Heaps. “It seems like he’s a little bit off his footing and then that’s when he gets the most power. It’s not like he’s over-hitting it, he’s hitting it in stride and I think that’s the most important thing with Kelyn. When he hits it in stride, it’s dangerous.”
• Geoffrey Castillion made his MLS and Revolution debut, coming on for the final 14 minutes. “He earned his minutes. He had really good sessions Tuesday and Wednesday, so, we wanted to get him in. I think he’s still a little bit away from fitness. I think tonight showed maybe we pushed him in a little too soon,” said Heaps.