Revolution v. Seattle Sounders, 6.30.12

Coincidentally, one might almost say amazingly, for the second straight week the Revolution scored a goal in the fourth minute of extra time to tie a game at 2-2 and earn a point in the standings. In Saturday’s game against Seattle, as in their last against Toronto, the Revolution were on the front foot during the last ten minutes, creating numerous chances before eventually finishing in the waning seconds.

The Revolution back line had a hand in the final goal. Stephen McCarthy received a back pass from Kelyn Rowe and switched fields, finding Fernando Cardenas along the left sideline. Cardenas settled the ball and got to work near the edge of the box. He executed a nifty step-over move to create space and sent a right-footed cross towards the far side of the six-yard area. Saer Sene was in that general vicinity, and the tall Frenchman jumped to try to meet the ball, but fortunately for him and his teammates he missed it. I say “fortunately” because Diego Fagundez had found space in behind Sene near the back post. Fagundez tracked the ball flawlessly in traffic and sent a clinical snap header down off the turf and into the side netting for the equalizer.

Fagundez’s goal must have sent New England’s upper management into paroxysms of bureaucratic ecstasy, as it should create buzz in advance of next week’s Diego Fagundez Bobblehead Night at Gillette, when the Revs play New York. I’ve already secured my own ticket. Speaking of which, I was asked to go to the game by some Jamaica Plain friends who are Thierry Henry fans and who are putting together a group-ticket buy, which requires purchasing at least forty tickets. As I imperfectly understand it, our group-ticket status will not only entitle us to a discount and a bobblehead doll, but just may get us down onto the field for team introductions.

I may have that last part (about going down onto the field with the likes of Thierry Henry) wrong, but if I’m right, it shows the Revolution are still relatively desperate to get paid fans into the seats.* Before this match, according to Soccer America, the Revolution were averaging 11,819 fans for home games, which is below their final 2011 average of 13,222 and puts New England second-to-last in MLS attendance so far this year. 

The Revolution drew a little over 15,000 fans for the Seattle game, which will increase their season average a bit. Given the frantic ending, the fans must have left Gillette pleased, though the game didn’t boast many standout individual performances by Revolution players. Sene, for instance, was named man of the match by the Revolution announcers, but I don’t agree with that assessment. Sene looked offside to me on his goal and made no fewer than three poor strikes on goal, sailing shots over the bar in the 6^th, 12^th and 48^th minutes. If I had to name an outstanding Revs player on the night it would be McCarthy, who not only helped set up that final goal, but was strong on defense. He stonewalled Alvaro Fernandez in the penalty box to break up a counterattack in the 80^th minute after a Sene giveaway at midfield. And he executed a good slide tackle in the box to dispossess Eddie Johnson in the 72^nd minute after a giveaway by Rowe. (Johnson, by the way, was on a hat trick at the point and in excellent form.)

But while no New England player stood out the way Feilhaber did against Toronto, the team continued to progress as a unit. The Revolution again won the possession battle, holding the ball nearly 60% of the time, in no small part due to a strong effort at midfield by Shalrie Joseph. But this season, New England players don’t have to rely on their captain as much as they did last year. They’re a much deeper team. It’s worth noting that Cardenas, Fagundez, and Rowe were all substitutes in this game, and that they all came on for effective players (Clyde Simms, Blake Brettschneider, and Flo Lechner) who weren’t even on the roster last year. Another new player, Lee Nguyen, continues to work well on the left with Chris Tierney. Tierney overlapped with Nguyen so many times in the first half against Seattle to send in crosses that I was put in mind of a kid picking at a scab. The New England coaching staff clearly wanted to relentlessly work that left side, and it finally paid off on the Fagundez goal.

Speaking of depth, Flo Lechner mostly played well in place of the injured Kevin Alston. However, Lechner was largely responsible for allowing Seattle’s first goal. He made a couple of errors in the 23^rd minute, first forcing a long pass to Brettschneider that was intercepted in the Revs’ own half and sent back into the box. Lechner had a chance to redeem himself when the ball fell to him, but he failed to clear it, losing possession to Seattle’s Mauro Rosales. Rosales quickly punished the Revs, sending a perfect ball in to Johnson at the back post for a header and the score. A.J. Soares and Tierney played their parts on that one, allowing Johnson to find a large seam in between them in front of goal. The sequence showed that, while the Revolution back line are much improved, they (like the rest of us) still have plenty to learn.

* It also puts me in mind of an unattributed joke I heard maybe twenty years ago, about Northwestern University football (when Northwestern’s football program was notoriously poor). The joke goes something like this: “Hi, is this Northwestern ticket sales?” “Yes it is. How may I help you?” “I’d like to buy tickets for this Saturday’s football game.” “How many tickets would you like?” “How about forty?” “Okay. Where would you like to sit?” “How about the fifty-yard line?” “No problem. You’re all set.” “That was easy. Say, what time does the game start?” “What time would you like it to start?”