NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION vs CHICAGO FIRE
GILLETTE STADIUM, Foxborough, Mass.
Sept. 7, 2014 (WEEK 26, MLS Game #252)
7 p.m. ET (CSN-NE; My50 Chi)

The New England Revolution will be looking to keep their home form rolling when they play host to the Chicago Fire in a key Eastern Conference matchup on Sunday evening at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution won their third match in a row at midweek, defeating Sporting KC 3-1 to move into sole possession of third place in the East. The Fire are currently four points out of fifth place and the final playoff position in the division, after their 1-0 home win against FC Dallas last weekend.

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REFEREE: Chris Penso. AR1 (bench): Claudio Badea; AR2 (opposite): Danny Thornberry; 4th: Daniel Fitzgerald
MLS Career: 57 games; FC/gm: 23.3; Y/gm: 3.1; R: 17; pens: 20

SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: NE: Teal Bunbury, Chris Tierney, A.J. Soares … CHI: Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: NE: Lee Nguyen, Daigo Kobayashi, Kelyn Rowe … CHI: Mike Magee, Chris Ritter, Patrick Ianni, Lovel Palmer
DISABLED LIST: NE: Andy Dorman
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (48 meetings): Revolution 17 wins, 64 goals … Fire 21 wins, 65 goals … Ties 10
AT NEW ENGLAND (24 meetings): Revolution 12 wins, 34 goals … Fire 9 wins, 25 goals … Ties 3

2014 (MLS):
4/19: CHI 1, NE 1 (Amarikwa 16 – Nguyen 31)
7/12: NE 0, CHI 1 (Amarikwa 3)

• The teams are meeting for the third time this season. Quincy Amarikwa scored the game’s only goal to lead the Fire to a 1-0 win July 12 at Gillette Stadium; Amarikwa and the Revolution’s Lee Nguyen scored first-half goals to leave the teams in a 1-1 draw on April 19 at Toyota Park.
• The Fire victory in the last meeting was their first in Foxborough since 2010; the Revolution had won the last three meetings between the teams at Gillette Stadium.
• Coaches record: Jay Heaps vs. CHI: P8 W4 L3 D1 … Frank Yallop vs. NE: P21 W12 L5 D4

LAST MEETING (MLS):

• The Fire took the lead after just three minutes. Mike Magee sent a pass up over the Revolution back line and into the box, where Quincy Amarikwa held off a defender and sent a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.
• The Revs were gift-wrapped the opportunity to equalize after Jerry Bengtson was brought down in the box in the 84th minute and referee Jose Carlos Rivero pointed to the spot. But Chris Tierney saw his penalty stopped by Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson to preserve the shutout.
• NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-1-4-1): Bobby Shuttleworth - Andrew Farrell, A.J. Soares, Jose Goncalves, Chris Tierney - Andy Dorman (Scott Caldwell 29) - Teal Bunbury, Daigo Kobayashi (Steve Neumann 75), Kelyn Rowe (Jerry Bengtson 65), Diego Fagundez - Patrick Mullins.
• CHICAGO FIRE (4-4-2): Sean Johnson - Lovel Palmer, Bakary Soumare, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Gonzalo Segares - Alex (Grant Ward 88), Matt Watson (Chris Ritter 77), Jeff Larentowicz, Harry Shipp - Mike Magee, Quincy Amarikwa (Matthew Fondy 71).

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
The New England Revolution made it three wins in a row with another impressive victory, this time rolling to a 3-1 win against Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday evening at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution are in third place in the Eastern Conference with 36 points from 26 games.

LAST MATCH

• Sporting took the lead after just nine minutes. Center back Matt Besler unloaded a long throw-in from just above the left corner. Revolution midfielder Jermaine Jones got his head to it at the near post, only to deflect it straight back where Sonny Saad nodded it home at the far post.
• But the home side drew level just before halftime. Jones unleashed a beautiful diagonal pass from midfield to the feet of Teal Bunbury, who worked a defender in the area before taking a shot that deflected off Besler and past goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum.
• The Revs took the lead three minutes after the halftime restart. Kelyn Rowe, after patiently holding up along the left side, found Lee Nguyen streaking in, and at the top of the box he calmly collected and fired, curling a beauty into the top right corner of the goal.
• The home side put away the game in stoppage time as Nguyen collected a second. After creating a turnover on his own and playing a one-two with Patrick Mullins, he took the return pass in the right of the area and shot low inside the far post.
• Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made one change to the team that eased to a 3-0 win against Toronto FC at BMO Field. Jermaine Jones came into the midfield in place of the suspended Scott Caldwell.
• NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (4-1-4-1): Bobby Shuttleworth - Andrew Farrell, Jose Goncalves, A.J. Soares, Darrius Barnes - Jermaine Jones (Steve Neumann 46) - Teal Bunbury, Daigo Kobayashi, Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe (Diego Fagundez 85) - Charlie Davies (Patrick Mullins 61).

TEAM NEWS

• The Revolution have won three matches on the trot, their first consecutive victories since winning five in a row April 26-May 24.
• Lee Nguyen scored a pair of goals in a game for the second time this season, both coming in the last six matches, when he has six goals and two assists. He has scored a goal in three consecutive games, with four goals in that time. Nguyen is also tied for fifth in the MLS Golden Boot standings with his single-season career-high 12 goals.
• I think Lee (Nguyen) is showing you what he can do. We’ve seen it for a while and you guys see it game in and out. But, we see it every day and he’s really special. He’s got the quickest feet in the league and if you give him a little bit of space, he can hit a ball … as good as anyone,” said Revolution coach Jay Heaps. “When he’s working really hard, when he’s on both sides of the ball and he’s picking off loose balls or stepping in and tackling people, he’s almost a double threat. And then he gets more offense that way because teams can put a man on him when we’re building the play up to him and the possession they mark him off pretty well.”
• Kelyn Rowe recorded an assist, a streak of three games now where he has a goal and/or an assist. He has two goals and three assists over the last six matches.
• “Kelyn has done great. He’s flourishing out wide right now. He can affect the game one-on-one out there and at the same time he can bring it in and be dangerous when he picks up his head and he can look for the open guy. I think his game’s just gotten better and better,” Nguyen said.
• With Scott Caldwell serving a one-match ban for caution accumulation, Jermaine Jones made his first MLS start, coming into the deep-lying central midfield and playing the first 45 minutes.
• “The coach told me I was going to play 45 minutes,” said Jones. “At half, I was asking him to play more minutes, but he said that he didn’t want to take the risk. It was perfect, though, because the team came back and won the game. Now we look for the next game, and I hope that I can play 90 minutes.”
• Said Heaps: “I was excited to start him. I thought that we were working on a plan here and his plan was 45 minutes. The way we looked at it, working with our strength coaches was that we wanted to give him a proper warm up so he got a full warm-up before the game; possession, moving the ball and so that he could go into the game and attack the game that way. ... The entire thing was set up to get Jermaine that 45 minutes, but, I thought he was really good. It’s a little bit different because they were pressing him so he didn’t get a ton of the ball, but, when he was able to make a play he made the goal for Teal.
• Teal Bunbury scored his second goal in as many games, and now has four goals for the season. They are his first goals since May 11; Bunbury’s previous two goals came in a three-game span.
• “I think Teal was really disappointed on letting Soony Saad get inside and goal side on him. I thought Teal – from that moment on, from the seventh minute on, when the goals went in – he was a different player and he just literally went up and down that flank and had his way on that right side,” said Heaps.
• Rookie Patrick Mullins recorded his first career assist, coming on as a substitute for the final half-hour. Mullins has four goals this season, coming in four consecutive games May 3-24.

CHICAGO FIRE
The Chicago Fire put an end to their three-game winless slide, getting the game’s only goal for a victory against FC Dallas on Saturday evening at Toyota Park. The Fire are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 29 points from 25 games.

LAST MATCH

• The Fire finally found the breakthrough seven minutes before the final whistle. Jeff Larentowicz hit a right-footed cross from the left flank that was perfectly placed for Robert Earnshaw to meet with a flick header just inside the far post.
• Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson was called upon to make two saves as FC Dallas saw their long undefeated run put to an end.
• Fire head coach Frank Yallop made one change to the team that came back for a 2-2 deadlock with Toronto FC at BMO Field. Grant Ward came into the side in place of Harry Shipp.
• CHICAGO FIRE (4-4-1-1): Sean Johnson - Lovel Palmer, Bakary Soumare, Jeff Larentowicz, Gonzalo Segares - Grant Ward (Harry Shipp 63), Razvan Cocis, Matt Watson, Alex - Sanna Nyassi (Robert Earnshaw 63) - Quincy Amarikwa (Matthew Fondy 90).

TEAM NEWS

• The Fire extended their home undefeated run to six matches, their last home loss coming June 7 in a 3-2 defeat by Seattle Sounders FC. They have two wins and four draws over that stretch.
• “We need to win probably another six games out of nine that we have left; five might do it. It's not like we have to win six games out of five games left, which give us no chance; we have a chance. With all the stuff we've gone through this season, I'm really happy with what we've done,” said Fire head coach Frank Yallop. “… The players are giving everything they've got; we need more quality, I understand that, but I'm never going to throw these players under the bus by saying they're not good enough because I've been with many teams that tried hard and they've won stuff. We still have a chance, and I'm excited about that.”
• Robert Earnshaw scored his second goal in as many games, his first two appearances since coming to the Fire in his return to Major League Soccer.
• “I’m 5-6, so my advantage is I’ve got to use my brain, I’ve got to use my timing, see what’s around me and be aware of the space,” Earnshaw said. “And if I can get the space, I can get the headers and that’s the key. For me, it’s just about my movement and if I can get my movement right and the ball comes in at the right time – I’ve got two headers in two weeks – so that’s great for me.”
• Said Yallop: “Every time you make a signing you hope it works out and they settle in pretty quickly. Impact-wise he’s been very key to us the last two games, so hopefully that will continue. If you look at Robbie’s goal-scoring record it’s very good and he knows how to score goals. Give him the service and he’ll put it in the net, so I’m not surprised but I’m very happy.”
• Earnshaw has come off the substitutes’ bench in each of his appearances, this time coming on for Sanna Nyassi, who was making just his second start with the Fire after arriving from the Montréal Impact. Nyassi’s first start came in a wide midfield role.
• “Robbie off the bench was amazing. Right now, it's working; you'd have to ask him, but hopefully he doesn't mind coming off the bench. But right now, he's not match fit, but we'll see,” said Yallop.
• Quincy Amarikwa returned to the starting lineup for a second consecutive match after coming off the substitutes’ bench the week previous.
• “Goal production is everything. I think Quincy Amarikwa did well, I think he battled. Quincy is one of those guys that you think you're going to maybe not miss him when he's not playing, but when he isn’t playing, he's missed. My big thing is, he worked hard, he runs the line well, he occupies people. Late in games, I like when Quincy is still battling away, and somebody underneath is dangerous,” said Yallop. “Sanna Nyassi did a nice job of softening the team up. He's not 90 minutes yet, but I think he did a nice job of occupying Dallas' defense.”
• Jeff Larentowicz made a second consecutive start in central defense, recording his first assist since May 10 in putting a cross back in after being up for a corner.
• “I think Razvan [Cocis] and Matty Watson have a nice partnership in the middle. Now, are they creative dribbling, creating a bunch of chances, setting up midfielders? No, they're not. Are they hard-working, 90-minute guys that give everything they have? Yes, they are,” said Yallop. “We have enough creative; we were going to create enough chances with the guys wide. I think, in the middle, we were struggling at the start of the season. I want to nullify, and make sure that they're solid. I think that Razvan and Matt have struck a great partnership.”
• Said goalkeeper Sean Johnson: “I think the team’s defensive performance was excellent. Tonight we limited their chances, chances that were dangerous in or around the 18 – we cut out and blocked. That’s the effort we needed to push for the playoffs. You can see that everyone was committed; we knew we had to get a win.”