The New England Revolution defeated an exhausted San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night to prevent a mid-summer lull. Goals from Saer Sene and Dimitry Imbongo on opposite sides of halftime confirmed that the Revs’ winless streak wouldn’t extend past three games. The 2-0 victory was driven by a high pressure attack and a sturdy defense.
Devastated by injuries and Gold Cup call-ups, San Jose arrived at Gillette Stadium with only 16 players, many of whom had already played two games that week. The Revs hoped to take an advantage of their road-weary opponents by coming out with high energy and pushing for an early goal.
Chad Barrett explained, “With them playing on Sunday in a very hard fought game then playing in Chicago (on Wednesday) in pretty much the same heat that they played in today with limited numbers, we knew that if we came out with full effort tonight then we would beat them just because of that.”
Sene delivered the game’s first shot in the 1st minute when he collected a long-range pass from Stephen McCarthy before driving the ball into goalkeeper Jon Busch (seven saves). Sene made his second bid on goal in the 13th minute when he took a left-footed shot from just outside the 18 but Busch was able to punch the ball clear. The shot’s rebound was collected by Chris Tierney who moved the ball to Lee Nguyen who allowed Sene his third chance on goal. The French striker made no mistake this time and put a 25-foot howler into the back of the net.
“I’m happy to score but the first thing is that we win the game,” Sene said. “I’m a striker so I try my best but today if I just play and shoot off the post, shoot over the goal or miss a penalty and somebody else score and we win the game (then I’m happy). It’s special when you score. You’re happy to you score. As a striker, I’m disappointed when I play and I don’t score.”
The Revs continued to apply pressure with Nguyen (16th minute), Andrew Farrell (34th) and Kelyn Rowe (58th) having solid opportunities. The Revs received their security goal in the 80th minute when Dimitry Imbongo cleaned up in a Rowe cross. The goal was the Congo native’s second of the year.
“I need to score because I work hard for last four months.” Imbongo commented. “It’s good to score tonight because my parents just married two weeks ago. I miss my family. I miss my girlfriend. I am happy to just score. I am happy that my friend Saer Sene scored too. I am happy that the coach gave me the chance to prove to everybody that I can score.”
Defensively, the Revs remained strong with Jose Goncalves and McCarthy making it an easy night for Bobby Shuttleworth (two saves). Goncalves was tasked with battling Alan Gordon for most of the night and the Portuguese player performed admirably. The two first met in the 2nd minute with Goncalves beating Gordon to the ball without much contact. The encounters would become more physical, however, with Goncalves and Gordon exchanging blows throughout the night.
“Macca and Jose are the biggest and strongest out there,” Tierney revealed. “The way that they battled and took care of that job – which was definitely not an easy one – I think really won us the game.”
The win improves the Revs’ record to 6-5-6 which is good for sole possession of 6th place in the Eastern Conference. The Revs will now return to the training field before concluding their two game home-stand next week with a clash against the Houston Dynamo.
3 Observation and Revelations
1. Barrett-Fagundez isn’t Agudelo-Fagundez, but it could work. Diego Fagundez was obviously disappointed when Juan Agudelo suffered a right knee sprain because the two adolescents were forming a good partnership both on- and off-the-field. After Jerry Bengtson struggled in the lone striker role last week, Barrett was given his first start since March 23rd. The former Galaxy man provided some solid hold-up play while creating deceptive runs and dangerous passes. Perhaps Barrett’s finest moment came in the 28th minute when he broke free of the San Jose defense and tried to afford Fagundez a tap-in goal. Although the pass was out of the 18 year-old’s reach, the play should be encouraging to Revolution fans.
2. The win makes last week’s tie tolerable. If offered, the Revs would’ve certainly taken a mulligan after their 1-1 result against Chivas USA. Since there aren’t replays in soccer, the Revs were forced to look forward and make amends during their game against the Earthquakes. Although New England struggled with possession against San Jose and they weren’t as potent in front of net as they should be, the team created many significant scoring opportunities. The play and result against the Earthquakes eases concerns about an Agudelo-less team. Head coach Jay Heaps explained, “We preached all week that the point in LA becomes more valuable when you get the three points to follow.”
3. Finishing need to be better. While the Earthquakes as a whole didn’t have a good night, Busch needs to be recognized for his outstanding seven save performance. Busch turned back the clock on Saturday by making several reaction saves that kept his team in the game. The Revs will be disappointed that didn’t have more goals since they recorded 19 shots with eight being on target. The Earthquakes were clearly fatigued as they allowed the Revs plenty of time to orchestrate their attack in the final third. With little defensive pressure, the Revolution should have put the game away earlier.
(image courtesy of Kari Heistad)
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