WHO: Revolution at Columbus Crew SC
WHEN: Saturday, April 21, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: MAPFRE Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
TV/RADIO: NBC Sports Boston/WBZ-FM 98.5 HD2/AM 1570 WMVX (Portuguese)
WHAT'S UP: It's an early-season Eastern Conference six-pointer as the Revs try to shake off last Saturday's 1-nil defeat to FC Dallas against the Crew. On the flip side, Columbus is on the heels of a 1-nil defeat at the hands of DC United in Annapolis. Both have 10 points in the East, with Columbus playing one extra match so far. The Revs are in third place, the Crew fourth. New England has the advantage on goal difference (+4 for NE, +2 for Columbus).
Hi everyone, Sean here. Hope everyone had a fantastic day; it's looking like a beautiful evening for soccer in Columbus, with about a 55-degree tempy at kickoff.
1' And we're underway from MAPFRE. The BSJ Match Blog will be updated periodically.
Revs with a 4-2-3-1, with Bunbury the lone striker, Agudelo out to the right.
2' Early corner as Higuain tries to connect with Zardes, Revs rightly kick it out. Higuain's corner meets acres of space, Revs clear and counter.
5' Dielna already with two, maybe three, big defensive stops for New England so far.
7' Farrell, caught in the midfield, cracks back hard and makes a sliding challenge.
8' Penilla with a shot near the end line into Steffen's grasps. Revs creating with the press.
9' GOAL Columbus, and it's Valenzuela who crosses from close range off a volley by Higuain. Turner tries to parry, and Farrell gets in front and heads it into the net. 1-nil to the Crew. Unfortunate, unlucky for New England. Ruled an own goal. 1-nil to Columbus.
11' Dielna into the referee's book. Cautioned.
14' GOAL New England, as Zahibo comes up with a dispossession, flies it out to Penilla. Penilla finds Bunbury with a slippy, Bunbury flashes right, fires in and pops it off the post and in. 1-1.
19' Hansen barely gets by Somi, he fires and Turner saves it with one hand; Revs go the other way, and Fagundez shoots, Steffen saves. Revs nearly get another try as the minute turns.
Mid 21' Anibaba with a big sliding clearance right in front of goal.
Mid 22' Agudelo with a little juggle on Fagundez's pass, he goes wide by mere feet as he tried to fire in mid-air. That would have been splendid.
28' Teal had a shot from a rather difficult angle.
30' Farrell gets forward, pass from Zahibo, blasts around Valenzuela and tried to feed Fagundez, but Mensah puts a body on him and the ball goes over the end line. Goal kick.
Mid 34' Columbus with a volley into the penalty area, Revs partially clear with some headers... Columbus gets it back in and the Crew fire wide.
Early 36' Zahibo is cautioned for an obstruction.
38' Santos with a spin and a shot from 22 away, and he fires wide of the far post.
40' Crew try to feed Zardes from over on the flank, but Farrell with a sliding clearance.
42' Almost for Columbus. Zardes moves to the outside of Anibaba and chases down the thru-ball, Zardes tries to connect with Hansen at the far post, but Hansen can't corral it toward that open side. Wasted opportunity.
43' GOAL Columbus, but not wasted this time. Zardes on the first touch to get it to the right of Anibaba, and Zardes slots it in. Great build-up with three touches before Zardes pops it in. 2-1 to Columbus.
45+1' GOAL New England, and it's Penilla! Penilla levels it with a neat one touch on Agudelo's helper. Looked like Zahibo who won the header at the midway line. It's 2-2.
HALF
Quickie halftime thought:
Revs had had a few chances but outside of Teal Bunbury's third goal, haven't been able to really finish. To their credit, they've made Steffen work more than Dallas' Jimmy Maurer had to work last Saturday.
Outside of the opener and the last few minutes of the half, Columbus hadn't acquired many looks at goal. That was a credit to that New England back line making their sliding stops, but Zardes just made New England pay at the end there.
Friedel not happy with Columbus out-working the Revs in his half-time interview.
Second half, and we're back underway.
Mid 49' Revs back line get shifted and split, Zardes gets the ball, Anibaba flashes over, slides as Zardes shoots, deflects over the bar for a corner.
50' AND ALMOST FOR COLUMBUS. The corner goes to Higuain, who heads it up.... OFF THE CROSSBAR!
51' Afful this time, his shot deflected over for another Crew corner.
52' And a third. Afful with a Row Z Special, and it's a goal kick for NE.
55' Revs sub: Scott Caldwell in for Juan Agudelo.
57' Revs TV shows the group of New England fans who made the trip out to Ohio, Monty in the middle of it all, phone in hand.
Early 60' Fagundez into the book, he gets him with the foul, didn't get the ball. Luckily, it was just outside the box and not a penalty.
62' Higuain with the back heel to Santos, and Santos left-foots it into the side netting.
63' Gasp. That was almost harrowing. Turner rushes off his line and the ball -- and Zardes -- gets around him. Anibaba rushes back, and so does Turner. Zardes hesitates, and Farrell makes the sliding challenge at the edge of the six, gets the ball, and clears it. Despite the mistake on the goal, Farrell is playing well.
Late 66' Higuain goes into the referee's book for dissent. Higuain not happy for the call going New England's way.
67' Somi goes into the book for a tactical foul. Fourth Revs yellow.
Start of 69' Fagundez with a solid run, keeping his balance. Revs on a 3-on-2. Bunbury is wide open up the right, Fagundez goes with Penilla, Penilla's shot stopped by Steffen.
70' Anibaba with a really big stop off the line as Columbus has a little scrum in the box. Crew sub: Martinez on for Hansen.
71' Save Steffen as Bunbury heads Farrell's volley to the far post, leads to a corner.
Late 72' The ball gets by Caldwell and Higuain feeds Zardes. Zardes looks like he's going to charge through the challenge, but Dielna -- on a yellow -- makes a wonderful sliding challenge which, if he missed it, he'd get his marching orders and Columbus would have had a spot kick.
74' Anibaba again! Anibaba denies Zardes after the Crew striker evades Caldwell and Dielna.
78' Revs sub: Krisztian Nemeth on for Zahibo.
86' Crew sub: Jahn on for Santos.
87' Fagundez to Penilla.... shot stopped by Mensah. That should have been the winner.
88' Johnathan with the header off the corner just wide; Matt Turner into the referee's book for time wasting.
90' Three minutes minimum stoppage time.
90+1' Revs sub: Brandon Bye comes on for Gabriel Somi.
90+3' Penilla loses it, but the bounce goes to Fagundez, who finds Nemeth.... but he's offside.
90+4' Caicedo makes a sliding tackle in the box, Martinez recovers, shoots off Anibaba, caroms off the post back to Caldwell, who kicks it away, and that's it.
FULL TIME
**LINEUPS**
For the Revolution:
This evening's #NERevs Starting XI ?? BENCH: Knighton, Tierney, Bye, Delamea, Caldwell, Herivaux, Nemeth pic.twitter.com/UZ8MKXVndz
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) April 21, 2018
Today's squad. 1️⃣1️⃣ warriors chasing 3️⃣ points!#CLBvNE kicks off ?#CrewSC pic.twitter.com/qnw8GMv29c
— Columbus Crew SC (@ColumbusCrewSC) April 21, 2018
- The Revs are winless at MAPFRE in the last four trips dating back to the 2013 season. New England posted a 1-nil win over the Crew on Oct. 27, '13, which was its eighth win in Columbus: in all, the Revolution are 8-20-6 here, and with Columbus investor/operator Anthony Precourt threatening to move the club to Austin, Texas at the end of the season, it's entirely possible this is the last New England match in the heart of the Buckeye State. It's the 71st overall meeting between the two Original Ten clubs.
- Columbus is also on a three-match losing skid this season.
- Revolution midfielder Diego Fagundez has potted four goals and one assist against Columbus in his career. A goal tonight will move him into the club lead among current Revolution players (Lee Nguyen also has four goals against the Crew, along with five assists).
- Even with the defeat last week, Revs midfielder Cristian Penilla is still listed in a tie for second in Major League Soccer for primary assists with three. Defensive midfielder Wilfried Zahibo also has three, including a secondary assist.
- Should the Revs come up with the victory tonight, it would be the first time the club has won consecutive road games since Aug. 29-Sept. 15, '15.
- The Revs are wearing a special Earth Day jersey tonight, in conjunction with MLS' Greener Goals initiative. It's made of Parley yarn, which features recycled ocean plastic as well as recycled polymers.
- New England goalkeeper Matt Turner is listed fourth among MLS goalkeepers for save percentage (78.6 percent), and tied for fifth in total saves (22).
- Even though the Crew will generally start out with four in the back, BSJ soccer colleague Tom Benedetto tells me Columbus will morph into a 3-5-2 with Wil Trapp -- Scott Caldwell's University of Akron teammate -- sinking in behind the centerbacks as the fullbacks get high.