New England Revolution 2, Seattle Sounders 1 | MLS Match Recap

Mike Levitt

It's the Femi show in New England these days.

The New England Revolution played out 2-1 winners against the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium thanks to a late goal by rookie substitute Femi Hollinger-Janzen. The goal was his second in the Revs' past three games.

With the match knotted at one in the 80th minute, Femi, who entered the game four minutes earlier, received a toe-poke pass from Lee Nguyen about 20 yards from goal. The rookie nearly fell over when taking his first touch, but regained his balance before blasting a low strike through traffic inside Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei's left post.

Seattle, missing Clint Dempsey and Nelson Valdez to international duty, jumped out to an early lead in the 7th minute thanks to homegrown product Aaron Kovar. Starting for the third time in the past four games, Kovar netted his first professional goal when he corralled a poor punch from Revs keeper Bobby Shuttleworth at the top of the box, crossed up a defender as he brought the ball down to his right foot, and slotted home inside the left post.

The Revolution equalized in the 24th minute on Nguyen's penalty.

Box Score

7' – SEA – Aaron Kovar
24' – NE – Lee Nguyen (PK)
80' – NE – Femi Hollinger-Janzen (Nguyen)
Full box score
Stats
Full Highlights

Three Things

FEMI TO THE RESCUE: The kid is hot, hot like the temperatures in New England this weekend. With Saturday's winner, Femi Hollinger-Janzen now has two goals in his past three games and is the only 2016 MLS SuperDraft selection with at least a goal and an assist this season. The Revs needed a spark, and Femi seems to be their guy.
SOUNDERS STRUGGLES CONTINUE: The controversial penalty call in the first half – that may or may not have even been a handball – didn't help their cause: The Sounders are now 0-4-1 on the road this year. One bright spot might be the play of Seattle's homegrown players, who are racking up minutes. The best of the bunch? Not necessarily Jordan Morris – Aaron Kovar scored his first goal for the club, and looks comfortable on the wing.
FARRELL RIGHT BACK TO RIGHT BACK? Andrew Farrell played 22 games at right back in 2014. In 2015? 0. So it was a bit surprising that Revs coach Jay Heaps decided to play the big defender on the outside, moving London Woodberry to center back in the process.