The road is becoming a very dreary place for the New England Revolution.
The Revs are 0-3-1 in their last four away matches, with New England gaining – and then coughing up – the lead in three of those contests. The Revs came out like gangbusters in all three of those games, taking the game to the home team in ferocious fashion to gain leads within the opening 20 minutes.
Then, inevitably, that pressure has faded, turnovers occur and goals are allowed, putting New England on the back foot.
“We weren’t good with the ball,” coach Jay Heaps said afterSunday’s 2-1 loss to D.C. United, which saw the Revs take a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute and hold it for an hour before conceding in the 70th and 81st. “There was no real pressure and we kept giving the ball back. And I don’t know where that comes from; that’s a mental lapse.”
New England’s tough road run started on May 8, when the Revs drew 2-2 at Orlando City SC. Charlie Davies gave New England an early lead in the 19th and Lee Nguyen doubled the advantage in the 71st, only for Orlando to climb back into the match with goals in the 75th and 90th to split the points.
The story was the similar in Kansas City two weeks later, as Juan Agudelo put New England up in just the 11thminute before Sporting KC came charging back with three first half goals, adding a fourth just a minute into the second half.
The Revs have said the same things after all three matches: They need to be better with the ball and more ruthless when putting teams away.
They’ll look to do just that on Wednesday night, when they take on Columbus Crew SC in an important Eastern Conference tilt at MAPFRE Stadium in Ohio (7:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE).
“We’re always trying to tighten things up,” midfielder Scott Caldwell told the club's official website. “Every aspect of the game, if we tighten up, we’ll be alright. But we’ve got to do that.”
“[We need to be] working for each other, keeping the ball moving and still trying to be more lethal in the attacking third,” added winger Teal Bunbury. “When we’re creating changes and having opportunities, we’ve kind of got to bury teams.”
