One of the things I like to do for a road match is park my Irish-American butt on the couch and, at the right time, hit record on the DVR right before kick-off. Then, after the Match Report is filed, I'll go back and, with the Match Blog as reference, fast forward to instances I found interesting during my initial viewing: I liken this to re-reading a book, where I find something I didn't catch before.
After I had the Match Report for the Revolution's 1-1 draw with Chicago filed, I took a deep breath and hit play, then fast-forwarded to the second half.
And one of the things that I noticed, even though I remain steadfast in my belief that the Revs should have been absolutely clinical in their finishing (I'm looking right at you, Krisztian Nemeth, and I will until you score a goal; you are NOT the No. 10, you are paid to finish), and while the postgame stats showed Chicago maintaining a 51 percent-49 percent possession advantage, The Boys In Blue were far and away the better of the two sides during the second 45 minutes of play Saturday night.
Still, credit has to be given to the Fire for doing so much to harry the visitors and to deny easy opportunities until Teal Bunbury buried Diego Fagundez’s helper in the 82nd.
Take, for example, the multiple set-piece sequences at the start of that second half. We saw Chicago do plenty to frustrate New England through it all.
It all started with Claude Dielna and Kelyn Rowe standing over a free kick some distance away midway through the 49th. Rowe blasted it off the wall, but it had plenty of pace behind it to reach Chicago keeper Richard Sanchez. Sanchez batted it back and over the bar for a corner.
That one move, that simple save at 48:35, touched off a vicious four minutes where New England kept Chicago pinned in its own defending third. The sequence of events:
- Mohammed Adams ended up batting Dielna’s corner over the end line before it could reach the 6-yard box, conceding a second.
- The second one went toward Jalil Anibaba at the back post, but Chicago’s Brandon Vincent, parked a few feet in front of him, headed it away. Chicago had seven red shirts in the 6 for that one, and Dielna wanted to go over the mass of humanity to Anibaba. One minute had passed since Rowe’s kick at this point, and it was time for corner No. 3 in a row.
- Fagundez took a short corner to Dielna, who passed it right back. The Leominster resident then sent it in toward Bunbury, but it was headed by the Fire’s Alan Gordon and right into the path of Luis Caicedo. He fired it off Aleksandar Katai and over the end line for consecutive corner No. 4.
- Dielna then teed up the corner and sent it toward the near post and Rowe, but the Fire got to it first and knocked it out of play, this time for an attacking throw.
- Bunbury would have another go in the 70th minute. He shot wide.
- Fagundez took an ill-advised shot that went too far off the mark, beyond the far post.
- In the next minute, two more chances: both Bunbury and Penilla challenged Sanchez with hard shots right at him.
- Another one, this time by Penilla as Chicago’s back side worked him off to the side — off the post!
- Andrew Farrell (he crossed it in and it was cleared)
- Caicedo (he passed it over the midway line to Delamea)
- Delamea had the ball for less than a millisecond; he one-touched to Wilfried Zahibo
- Zahibo took a dribble and right-footed it to Anibaba
- Anibaba found acres of space ahead of him, and he eased the ball up to about 23 yards from goal before moving it to Penilla
- Penilla chipped it into the box. It took a bounce off Vincent’s pate and went high, then bouncing just shy of the 6.