FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The monkey jumped off their back and the floodgates opened for the New England Revolution on Wednesday night, as they snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 3-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids at Gillette Stadium.
Two second-half goals – just three minutes apart – by Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe put New England in the most comfortable position they have enjoyed in over two months.
In a gritty first half, the Revolution controlled the pace of play, owning 58 percent of the possession and most importantly, striking first for the first time since their last win back on May 24.
The Revs tallied in the 10th minute when Charlie Davies held up the ball in the Rapids penalty box with pressure on his back and found Nguyen cutting across. The Revs midfielder created some open space to fire, shooting towards the far post – but finding the foot of Rapids defender Drew Moor, and the resulting deflection flew past goalkeeper Clint Irwin to put New England on the board.
A depleted Rapids side, using four different starters than they had in Friday's 3-0 win over Chivas USA, seemed off balance for much of the night.
Whenever Colorado were able to spark a break on the attack, they were caught offside, with Gabriel Torres called for four of the club’s five infractions.
The Rapids had their best chance to level in the 69th minute after Edson Buddle laid off a pass in the box back to Dillon Powers, who ripped a shot from 18 yards out. But Bobby Shuttleworth made a diving save to keep the lead secure.
Not long after, Rapids defender Thomas Piermayr picked up his second booking of the match after a hard challenge on Steve Neumann, giving Nguyen a free kick from the top of the box that he buried with a bending blast into the top corner for a 2-0 lead in the 75th minute.
Moments later Rowe received a pass from Nguyen, dribbled right into the box and snapped a high shot past Irwin for his first goal of the season, icing the win.
New England will look to carry their newfound momentum into Saturday’s game at New York, while the Rapids return to Colorado to host Real Salt Lake for a Rocky Mountain Cup rivalry match..
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
Rank |
Player |
What We Saw |
1 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/lee-nguyen" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Lee Nguyen</span></a> |
<p>Brilliant on the ball all night. Created New England's first two goals and finally got their pass-happy midfield purring again.</p> |
2 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/kelyn-rowe" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Kelyn Rowe</span></a> |
Played Nguyen's sidekick very effectively and showed a striker's touch on his snap finish, which provided a welcome boost of confidence. |
3 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/clint-irwin" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Clint Irwin</span></a> |
Left out to dry by his defense in the end, but made a few saves that kept the sluggish Rapids close until the final stages.<br> |
