The New England Revolution lost their fourth straight match on Saturday when they were down 2-1 by Real Salt Lake. Both of Salt Lake’s goals came from the penalty spot with Javier Morales and Jao Plata converting. The Revolution’s lone strike came from Darrius Barnes.
Salt Lake controlled play for the majority of the opening stanza with their first opportunity coming in the sixth minute when John Stertzer was put behind the defense. The sophomore sent in a cross that was just out of the reach of Devon Sandoval, which allowed Bobby Shuttleworth to neutralize the danger.
RSL registered their first shot on target in the 10th minute when Kyle Beckerman, who had just returned from the World Cup, fired from inside the area. Shuttleworth’s low dive kept the ball out of the back of the net.
Beckerman had another crack on goal in the 23rd minute, but Shuttleworth was again up to the task. The rebound fell to Sandoval, but the forward was ruled offside since the Revolution defense had quickly pushed forward.
After six shots, the home side finally broke through when referee Allen Chapman pointed to the penalty spot in the 33rd minute. The alleged foul came when Chris Schuler tumbled in the box during a scrum. Morales made no mistake during the ensuing penalty kick as he converted to improve his record to 3-for-3 on the year.
“I didn’t get an explanation [for the PK call],” AJ Soares said. “But I didn’t ask for one, so I can’t tell you. But he saw something, called it, and it’s fair enough, he’s the ref and he can make whatever call he wants, I guess.”
The Revs quickly equalized when Barnes nodded in Chris Tierney’s set piece offering in the 37th minute. The goal would serve as the Revolution’s only shot on target during the first half as the team was largely conceding possession.
The Revs maintained their high energy after the break with Jose Goncalves nearly grabbing an early second half goal. Rowe created the chance as his cross from he left flank found its way to Goncalves. The captain’s left footed shot deflected off Nick Rimando before rolling across the goal line without ever crossing.
“We tied it up and it’s one [to] one at halftime and we felt good going into the half,” Barnes said. “We knew we didn’t play our best stuff and we’re still tied one [to] one. At that point we thought that it was our game to lose. “
Salt Lake had a close call of their own in the 61st minute when Plata sent in a picturesque corner kick. After the ball finished bobbling around in the box, Borchers looked to have scored the go-ahead goal, but Morales was ruled to have committed a handling offense before the finish.
The referee would use his whistle again in the 65th minute, this time making a call against the Revolution. Chapman again pointed to the PK spot after Tierney’s slide tackle caught Stertzer. Plata stepped up and calming beat Shuttleworth to give the home side the lead.
The Revs had opportunities to equalize but failed to do so because of poor finishing. In the 69th minute, Tierney sent in a low cross that was misjudged by Patrick Mullins. A minute later, Rowe flubbed an opportunity presented by Lee Nguyen.
“[Real Salt Lake] is a good team,” head coach Jay Heaps commented. “You’ve to credit Salt Lake. I don’t think that they need two penalty kicks to beat you, but tonight I think that’s what they needed. I think we can do a better job.”
The game would end 2-1, snapping the Salt Lake’s five game losing streak and extending the Revolution’s losing streak to four. The Revs will have a quick turnaround as they are slated to travel to PPL Park on Tuesday for a US Open Cup fixture against the Philadelphia Union. Their next league game will be on July 12th when they welcome the Chicago Fire.
(Image courtesy of Kari Heistad)
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