After seeing his team mount a furious comeback from two goals down with 18 minutes remaining, New England Revolution manager Steve Nicol was bemused with his side's performance in a 4-2 victory against the MetroStars on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.
"You think you've seen most things and then something hits you right between the eyes," said Nicol.
Jose Cancela had given the home side a lead in the first minute, lobbing over Zach Wells. The MetroStars gained their footing in the middle third of the match, scoring twice in four minutes through a Youri Djorkaeff penalty and a Sergio Galvan Rey strike.
"I was disappointed [with the performance]," said Nicol. "We had some tired legs, from guys running around during the season. We need to give some guys a few days off. We looked tired tonight."
Three defensive miscues and opportunistic finishing gave the Revolution the victory. Jay Heaps was left unmarked at the near post to head home the 72nd-minute equalizer, while Steve Ralston stole the ball from Jeff Parke at the edge of the area to tally the game-winner in the 86th minute. For good measure, Steve Ralston chipped an out-of-position Wells for the third goal.
"We got outplayed for 70 minutes," said Nicol. "The goals were an accumulation of being under pressure. We finally started playing with 20 minutes to go."
Revolution striker Noonan, who showed a touch of class with his left-footed curling strike around Wells to seal the victory, noted that his side let down after a promising start.
"We started well with a great goal from Pepe [Cancela]," said Noonan. "Then we let down. We didn't keep up the pressure. We had a five-minute letdown where we gave up two goals. It was good for us that we came back."
It was the second time the Revolution put together a late comeback to snatch a victory from their regional rivals. In May, Taylor Twellman's 89th-minute goal left the MetroStars hot under the collar as the teams drew 2-2 at the Meadowlands.
"[The comeback] sums up this team," said Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis. "This may have been the worst we played all year. We had no energy and we were giving the ball away. We went down and then we battled right back. Ralston pounced for our third, and Noonan finished it with our fourth."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
