COLUMBUS CREW SC vs. NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
MAPFRE Stadium | Columbus, Ohio
Sunday, Sept. 25 | Week #29 | MLS Game #302
7 pm ET (FS1 in the US, MLS LIVE in Canada)
The New England Revolution could just about drive the final nail into Columbus Crew SC’s playoff hopes on Sunday, as a Revs win in Ohio would leave Crew SC at least nine points out of sixth place with just five regular season games remaining.
The match is a huge one for both teams, with sixth-place New England looking to stay ahead of D.C., Orlando and Columbus, who will be looking to build on last week’s big win at Orlando with a home victory against the Revs. While a loss would be damning, a home win would vault Crew SC back into the playoff picture, potentially putting them within four points of the red line. That’d be a huge shot in the arm for Gregg Berhalter’s side, who have had a massively disappointing 2016 after reaching MLS Cup last year.
- Crew SC put an end to a two-game losing slide, Ola Kamara hitting for his third multiple-goal game this season as his club exploded for a 4-1 win against Orlando City SC on Saturday evening at Camping World Stadium.
- Kelyn Rowe scored two goals in a game for the third time in his MLS career and Kei Kamara netted his 10th goal of the campaign, as the Revolution won a third consecutive league game for the first time this season with their 3-1 victory at the Montreal Impact.
- The teams are meeting for the third time this season, splitting the first two at Gillette Stadium. Lee Nguyen scored early and Kei Kamara scored late – against his former club – as the Revolution claimed a 3-1 win July 9; Ethan Finlay and Federico HiguaÃn netted first-half goals as Crew SC took a 2-0 win Aug. 20.
- Crew SC have won the last two league meetings in Columbus, though the Revolution won the first leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in 2014, as well as both matches in Columbus during the 2013 regular season. The Crew SC win last time out ended a three-game Revolution undefeated streak in Foxborough, Crew SC winning there for the first time since July 26, 2014.
REFEREE: Chris Penso. AR1 (bench): Eric Boria; AR2 (opposite): Kevin Klinger; 4th: Hilario Grajeda
MLS Career: 95 games; FC/gm: 24.1; Y/gm: 3.5; R: 31; pens: 32
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NE: Scott Caldwell, Kei Kamara, Teal Bunbury, Juan Agudelo
DISABLED LIST: CLB: Matt Pacifici, Ben Swanson (season-ending injury)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (67 meetings): Crew SC 33 wins (4 shootout), 102 goals...Revolution 22 wins (1 shootout), 84 goals...Ties 12
AT COLUMBUS (32 meetings): Crew SC 18 wins (1 shootout), 60 goals...Revolution 8 wins (1 shootout), 37 goals...Ties 6
- The teams are meeting for the third time this season, splitting the first two at Gillette Stadium. Lee Nguyen scored early and Kei Kamara scored late -- against his former club -- as the Revolution claimed a 3-1 win July 9; Ethan Finlay and Federico Higuain netted first-half goals as Crew SC took a 2-0 win Aug. 20.
- Crew SC have won the last two league meetings in Columbus, though the Revolution won the first leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in 2014, as well as both matches in Columbus during the 2013 regular season. The Crew SC win last time out ended a three-game Revolution undefeated streak in Foxborough, Crew SC winning there for the first time since July 26, 2014.
- Coaches record: Gregg Berhalter vs. NE: P7 W4 L2 D1...Jay Heaps vs. CLB: P13 W6 L5 D2
LAST MEETING (MLS):
8/20: NE 0, CLB 2 (Finlay 8; Higuain 49)
- Crew SC took the lead after just eight minutes when Ethan Finlay tapped home from close range all alone at the right post, finishing off Justin Meram's centering pass from a perfectly executed counterattack.
- Federico Higuain doubled his side's lead early in the second half when teammate Ola Kamara blocked an errant London Woodberry pass deep in New England's end, then picked out Higuain with a clever pass inside the box that he coolly buried.
- NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-2-3-1): Brad Knighton - Andrew Farrell, London Woodberry, Jose Goncalves (Zachary Herivaux 90), Chris Tierney - Gershon Koffie (Juan Agudelo 68), Scott Caldwell - Teal Bunbury (Diego Fagundez 56), Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe - Kei Kamara.
- COLUMBUS CREW SC (4-2-3-1): Steve Clark - Harrison Afful, Michael Parkhurst, Nicolai Naess, Hector Jimenez - Wil Trapp, Mohammed Saeid (Rodrigo Saravia 76) - Ethan Finlay, Federico Higuain (Tyson Wahl 90), Justin Meram (Dilly Duka 62) - Ola Kamara.
