The New England Revolution and San Jose Earthquakes faced off in midweek MLS regular season action, playing to a 0-0 draw at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday.
The teams battled for the breakthrough in a game that was at times an end-to-end affair. But wasteful finishing and key stops by goalkeepers Cody Cropper and David Bingham, in particular a kick save by Cropper on Fatai Alashe in the 66th minute, kept the game scoreless throughout.
Goals
- None
Three Things
- GOALKEEPERS SHINE: There were moments of attacking excitement on the night, but defense definitely won out overall. In particular, Cropper and Bingham played well backstopping their respective sides. Bingham had more saves on the night, five, in a gritty road draw for the Quakes, while Cropper's three stops were of the spectacular variety. The performance should boost the confidence for both teams' defenses heading into a short rest for games on Saturday.
- ROAD POINT TAKEN: The Quakes will almost certainly be happier with the result on the night. Coming into the match, they were 0-2-0 on the road so far this season, and few road trips in MLS are as far as San Jose to Foxborough, Mass. The next question is whether they can build on this. They've notched three draws in a row, and with another tricky road match this weekend, in Houston, another draw would not be a terrible result, all things considered. But to be in the playoff reckoning, San Jose will need to start turning some more draws into wins.
- WHEN WILL REVS CLICK IN ATTACK? New England had 15 shots in the game, six on target. Considering they have no new pieces in attack to integrate so far this season, it's rather surprising to see the struggles in producing goals. Yes, they scored five in one game this season, but that was against a reeling Minnesota United FC defense. Are the Revolution's playoff aspirations tied to their sputtering attack? Sure looks like it at this stage.
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