HARRISON, N.J. – The difference between winning and losing didn't appear particularly significant in a physical and tense affair between New England and New York on Thursday night.
In the end, this 2-0 defeat unfolded like too many others did for the Revolution this season. New England's committed and generally solid performance plunged into the depths of defeat due to momentary lapses at the back and sporadic bursts of quality at the front.
“It goes that way because we make a bad decision and we don't have the quality at the right time,” Revolution coach Steve Nicol told MLSsoccer.com after the game. “That's why we lost. It's pretty straightforward.”
Dane Richards took advantage of one of those typical Revolution miscues to open the scoring after 17 minutes. Juan Pablo Ángel enjoyed far too much space to turn and survey his options as he collected a ball out of the back. Ángel played a pass to send Richards flying down the right wing, and Richards capped the counter with a stunning finish to stake the Red Bulls to a lead.
“We play well in some spurts and there are five or ten minutes where it looks like we're the better team and a world-class team, but sometimes we just lose concentration and lack focus and we give up goals,” Shalrie Joseph told MLSsoccer.com after the match. “You can't do that against a team that is at the top of the league.”
The early New York goal once again placed the onus on the Revs to break down the opposition. It isn't a role they have embraced this season, as they stumbled to a franchise-low goal haul of 32 goals in 29 matches, and the visitors struggled to conjure up the necessary incisiveness to break the Red Bulls down at the back.
“Other than (the goals), we played some decent stuff, but it just came down to the story of the season,” Revs defender Chris Tierney said. “We can't put the ball in the net at the opportune times.”
Nicol eventually switched to a 3-5-2 formation in the final 10 minutes and threw extra numbers into the attack in search of the equalizer. By committing additional bodies to the attack, the Revs left wide swaths of space open at the back and eventually allowed Joel Lindpere to convert the killer second in second-half stoppage time.
“There are going to be holes,” Tierney said. “When it comes down to it in the position we're in, it doesn't matter if you lose 1-0 or 10-0. It's zero points either way. We were going for it at that point. We knew we were going to be exposed. They have good players and they scored a goal.”
The result left the Revs with a lengthy bus ride home to ponder their final outing of the campaign and the future of the team heading into next season. Changes to the current group may beckon as Nicol reshapes his squad, particularly in light of his verdict in the final match of the campaign.
“We haven't been good enough,” Nicol said. “That's the bottom line. That's why we lost tonight.”
