NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION vs COLUMBUS CREW
GILLETTE STADIUM, Foxborough, Mass.
Oct. 4, 2014 (WEEK 30, MLS Game #287)
7:30 p.m. ET (CSN-NE; TWCS-OH)
A huge encounter in the Eastern Conference is ahead on Saturday evening as the New England Revolution return home to take on the Columbus Crew at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution return home after returning to their winning ways in a 3-2 victory at Sporting Kansas City, now tied for second place in the conference. The Crew are just two points further back yet just two points ahead of the red line, after their second win on the trot, a 2-0 defeat of the MontrÈal Impact last Saturday at Crew Stadium.
REFEREE: Jose Carlos Rivero. AR1 (bench): Philippe Briere; AR2 (opposite): Daniel Belleau; 4th: Daniel Fitzgerald
MLS Career: 34 games; FC/gm: 26.8; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 9; pens: 19
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: NE: Darrius Barnes, Daigo Kobayashi Ö CLB: Bernardo Anor, Waylon Francis, Federico Higuain
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NE: Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe, A.J. Soares, Chris Tierney, Scott Caldwell Ö CLB: Eric Gehrig, Tyson Wahl, Tony Tchani
DISABLED LIST: CLB: Kingsley Baiden (season-ending injury)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (62 meetings): Revolution 20 wins (1 shootout), 78 goals Ö Crew 31 wins (4 shootout), 96 goals Ö Ties 11
AT NEW ENGLAND (31 meetings): Revolution 12 wins (0 shootout), 42 goals Ö Crew 14 wins (3 shootout), 38 goals Ö Ties 5
2014 (MLS)
7/26: NE 1, CLB 2 (Soares 50 ñ Higuain 43; Finlay 84)
9/20: CLB 1, NE 0 (Higuain 48)
- The teams are meeting for the third time this season, and the Crew have won both. Federico HiguaÌn scored the gameís lone goal from a free kick to give the Crew a victory Sept. 20 at Crew Stadium; Ethan Finlay scored in the 84th minute to snap a deadlock and give the Crew the 2-1 victory July 26 at Gillette Stadium.
- The win in the first meeting was the Crewís first win vs. New England since Aug. 25, 2012, and snapped a four-game Revolution winning streak in the series.
- Coaches record: Jay Heaps vs. CLB: P8 W4 L3 T1 Ö Gregg Berhalter vs. NE: P2 W2 L0 T0
LAST MEETING (MLS)
- The game's lone goal came three minutes after the second half restart. A New England foul gave Columbus a free kick from just outside the top of the box, and Federico Higuain stepped up with his usual dead ball confidence, swinging a powerful, curling effort into the top corner that left New England goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth no chance.
- The Crew had a glorious chance to put the game on ice in the 84th minute when Revolution defender A.J. Soares committed a late tackle that took out the legs of Justin Meram, and referee Ted Unkel ruled a penalty kick. But Higuain scuffed his effort from the spot and left Shuttleworth with an easy save.
- COLUMBUS CREW (4-2-3-1): Steve Clark - Eric Gehrig (Chad Barson 77), Michael Parkhurst, Tyson Wahl, Waylon Francis - Tony Tchani, Wil Trapp - Ethan Finlay, Federico Higuain (Bernardo Anor 86), Justin Meram - Aaron Schoenfeld (Jairo Arrieta 89).
- NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-1-4-1): Bobby Shuttleworth - Andrew Farrell, Jose Goncalves, A.J. Soares, Darrius Barnes (Chris Tierney 56) - Scott Caldwell - Kelyn Rowe, Daigo Kobayashi (Jermaine Jones 46), Lee Nguyen, Diego Fagundez (Steve Neumann 74) - Charlie Davies.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution returned to their winning ways, defeating Sporting Kansas City 3-2 on Friday evening at Sporting Park. The Revolution are in a tie for second place in the Eastern Conference with 45 points from 30 games.
LAST MATCH
- The Revolution took the lead in the 22nd minute. Kevin Alston chipped a cross to Kelyn Rowe at the top left corner of the 6-yard box, and his low strike rolled past 'keeper Eric Kronberg and just inside the post.
- The lead was doubled in the 35th minute on a remarkable goal. Revs center back Jose Goncalves won a challenge near the edge of New England's defensive third -- then took off straight down the middle of the field. He was not touched until he put a left-footed shot past Kronberg from just outside the penalty area.
- Sporting made it 2-1 in the 54th minute when Paulo Nagamura took a pass from Kevin Ellis, drove into the area and chipped over goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth from a tight angle.
- Then just two minutes later, Nagamura collected Antonio Dovale's pass and lofted a ball across the face of goal for Dom Dwyer to finish with a close-range header to level terms.
- But the Revs had the final answer. Jermaine Jones collected the ball just outside the top of the restraining arc and put in a low shot past Kronberg for the game-winner in the 85th minute.
- Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made four changes to the team that fell 1-0 to the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium. Kevin Alston and Chris Tierney came into the back four and Jermaine Jones and Teal Bunbury started in midfield, replacing A.J. Soares, Darrius Barnes, Scott Caldwell and Diego Fagundez.
- NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-1-4-1): Bobby Shuttleworth - Kevin Alston, Andrew Farrell, Jose Goncalves, Chris Tierney - Jermaine Jones - Teal Bunbury (Steve Neumann 80), Daigo Kobayashi (Scott Caldwell 65), Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe (Darrius Barnes 90) - Charlie Davies.
TEAM NEWS
- The Revolution rebounded from their first loss since Aug. 2, their sixth victory in their last seven matches, and began the week in a tie with Sporting KC in second place in the Eastern Conference.
- "We have nothing but respect for Kansas City and this organization. To me, they are the premier club right now. Coming off the championship and having this stadium and the way they play here," said Revolution head coach Jay Heaps. "I think it was good for us to get some confidence here, since our season ended here last year, so getting the confidence here is good. But that said, there's a lot of football left to be played. The Eastern Conference is really tight, so we're just focusing on getting up in the table."
- Returning to the starting lineup after a one-match absence because of a foot injury for his fourth MLS start, Jermaine Jones scored his first goal since coming to the league and the Revolution. Jones has a goal and three assists in six appearances with the Revolution since coming to MLS.
- "I think after 2-2 from Kansas City, I was a little bit upset. I think it was my mistake. After that goal, I said I have to step and help the team come back and take a point or maybe a win," Jones said. "I scored at the World Cup a similar goal so I try to shoot when I have the chance. I saw that the corner was free, so I tried it. It's a big three points."
- Jose Goncalves scored his first goal of the season, his first since Oct. 12 of last year when he netted for a second time as he eventually won MLS Defender of the Year honors.
- "When I look at our team, the two leaders really are Jermaine and Jose," Heaps said. "I thought the two of them tonight, by scoring goals, thatís one step, but I thought how they prepared the team for this game, how they were in the locker room before the game, it was business."
- Lee Nguyen collected his fifth assist of the season, setting up the game-winning goal. Nguyen has seven goals and four assists in his last 10 games, dating back to July 30.
- Chris Tierney made his first start since July 26, coming in at left back; his substitute appearance the week before was his first in nine matches. Kevin Alston came in at the other fullback position, his first start since Aug. 16.
- "It ís disappointing to give away two goals at the start of the half there," said goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. "At some point the back line and myself need to stand up and be accountable. We were able to come with a couple of saves there."
COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew won their second match on the trot by shutout, defeating the MontrÈal Impact 2-0 on Saturday evening at Crew Stadium. The Crew are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, with 43 points from 30 matches.
LAST MATCH
- The Crew were in the lead after just two minutes. Wil Trapp found Ethan Finlay on a run down the right side, and after he took a touch into the area, Finlay and fired a shot into the top right of the goal, beating goalkeeper Evan Bush at the near post.
- The lead was doubled in the 58th minute, when Finlay was brought down by Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare in the Montreal box, and referee Sorin Stoica saw enough to give the Crew a penalty. Federico Higuain left no doubt with the spot kick, slamming a low shot into the side netting, never leaving Bush a chance to save.
- The Impact had a chance to pull a goal back late in stoppage time when they won a penalty kick, but Steve Clark maintained the clean sheet by diving to his right and putting an outstretched glove on the well-taken attempt from Marco Di Vaio.
- Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter made no changes to the team that gained a 1-0 win against the New England Revolution at Crew Stadium. Hector Jimenez came into the back four for Eric Gehrig.
- COLUMBUS CREW (4-2-3-1): Steve Clark - Hector Jimenez (Eric Gehrig 69), Michael Parkhurst, Tyson Wahl, Waylon Francis - Wil Trapp, Tony Tchani - Ethan Finlay (Romain Gall 76), Federico Higuain, Justin Meram (Bernardo Anor 86) - Aaron Schoenfeld.
TEAM NEWS
- The Crew extended their undefeated streak to four games with the win against MontrÈal, matching their longest undefeated run of the season (they tied four consecutive games June 4-July 4).
- "Looking around the league Ö there was added pressure in this game to perform," head coach Gregg Berhalter said. "It was a home game. We wanted to put in a game-winning performance at home, so it was important. Ö I think it's natural to look at the table and feel a little bit of added pressure."
- The Crew also extended their home winning streak to five matches, equaling their longest over the last six MLS seasons. The club record is nine games, set in 1996; since the shootout era ended, the club-long has been six games, in 2008.
- "I think teams have a difficult time beating us here, especially as of late. We take pride in that, the fans have been great, theyíve been behind us and we look to really impose our game on the opponent,î Berhalter said. ìYou come into a club and you have the ideas that weíre going to make the home field a fortress and you say all of that but it just doesnít happen by words. You need to make it happen and I think if you look over the second half of the season weíve made that happen. Weíve been very strong at home these last seven games.î
- The Crew also recorded a fourth consecutive shutout at Crew Stadium, having not allowed a goal at home in 401 minutes, since the 4-1 win vs. the LA Galaxy on Aug. 16.
- "Today was a fantastic effort by Steve Clark to preserve the shutout; normally Marco Di Vaio scores that penalty and itís not a shutout," Berhalter said. "Defensively, the guys have been very solid; theyíve been doing a great job. The team defending has been really good and when you can defend with 11 guys you can get shutouts.
- Federico HiguaÌn scored for a second consecutive match, matching his MLS single-season career-high with his 11th goal this season. HiguaÌn has converted five penalty kicks in that total, and has also scored two goals directly from free kicks.
- Ethan Finlay scored his eighth goal of the season, his second in the last three matches. He has started each of the last 14 matches, scoring five goals in that time.
- "There was a focus on quick ball movement, creating early chances, thatís a focus we want to have in most games but today it was a great ball and a great finish. It was moving the ball from one side to the other and a penetrating pass," Berhalter said. "We wanted to do that, we wanted to come out and be aggressive and create chances early."
- Said Finlay: "We did not want to get too far ahead of this game, but we know we have a tough task ahead of us in October, and I think we are excited for it. We had a good road record at the start of the year, and we want to finish strong on the road. The next three games are going to be challenging, but I think we are up for it."
