June 22, 2008 by f4denz.

Well we saw another night of firsts at RES last night, so lets do a look back at the match with some match highlights and then wrap up with a summary’

1^st ten minutes

Well the match starts with both teams looking for their chances, and the first real big chance of the match comes a couple minutes in as a set piece gets played into the box and Deuchar’s header goes off the pole and bounces out, and the rebound is played directly to Reis, but the nice thing is the attacking effort early in the match for RSL. It was followed quickly by another attack by Andy Williams, but the offside flag goes up and the play is over. As the restart comes from Matt Reis, the ball takes a high bounce towards the RSL goal and Nat Borchers and Nick Rimando have some communication problems and Cristman goes over the back of Borchers and heads the ball into the RSL net past the Rimando as he charges the ball. RSL is down 0-1 early in the match, but within minutes RSL gets a set piece and again it is played in well and the ball gets past Reis, it looks like it went off a New England defender to tie the score 1-1.

RSL keeps attacking and a shot just goes wide off a Rev player, and RSL gets a corner kick but this one doesn’t pose a threat, but despite the early mistake on defense RSL is dominating this match early and putting a lot of attacking pressure on New England.

2^nd ten minutes

I have been very impressed with the early effort of RSL, very good attacking effort and keeping the majority of play on the New England half of the pitch. A very high energy RSL appear to want to ensure a much better result at home than the last two draws. Nice to see some very nice passing from RSL, a lot of first touch passes and while a few have gone astray, it has allowed RSL to really keep possession and dictate the pace of the match, both things that will play to RSL’s favor. It is clear that RSL is taking advantage of fact that New England is without Shalrie Joseph, but the Revs are working hard and Nyassi is putting in a good effort that creates some opportunities. A yellow card to Jay Heaps, who the announcer says is too slow to get out of the way, funny but the card is still issued, and the RSL effort from the set piece that results in a fairly weak effort on goal after the header by Beckerman, but a good ideas.

3^rd ten minutes

Well the frantic pace of the match has slowed down a little bit but RSL is still continuing to control the pace of the match and the majority of the possession. Dube goes down to get some attention and all the players take advantage to get a drink on a very hot night, the temp at the start was 97 degrees and while this was a 7:30 pm start the temp has been slow to go down. A great ball played into the box and Kenny goes up with Matt and the ball plays out of bounds but nice to see him not back down and go full effort for the ball. Nyassi goes down easy on a light tap, what a wimp, give the Rev’s a free kick that goes into the box and the header by Albright goes wide and poses no threat. RSL counters and wins a quick corner kick off their attack, and it is played wide to Dema who takes a shot but it is wide and results in a NE goal kick.

Last 15 of the first half

Well the last 15 minutes of the first half start with a corner kick by New England, but nothing comes of it as the RSL defense appears to have gotten their confidence is back after the early miscue. Not sure how Borchers got away with the hip check, but the Revolution appears to have found some energy and have kept the ball in the RSL half of the pitch for the last 4-5 minutes. Another NE corner kick is headed out and Nyassi tries a short from 30 yards out, that sails over the south stands and out to the concourse. Another attack from New England on a great ball played by Dube to Nyassi, results in a cracker shot that Rimando makes a great save on and prevents what should have been a goal. RSL is finally getting some possession in the Rev half of the pitch, but a counter by New England and a dive by Nyassi who goes down easily again. A collision at midfield involving Findley has him down on the pitch and moving very slowly, not sure who the other person in the collision was, but Robbie looks a little glassy eyed as he comes off the pitch. Tino Nunez is warming up as the staff evaluates Robbie after the clash with Nyassi, interesting how he falls down when anyone touches him, but had no problem knocking heads with people. Nunez comes in for Robbie who I believe was diagnosed with a mild concussion resulting from the incident. Both sides seem to be slowing down as the end of the half looms close and in this heat and with the pace set early in the match everyone appears ready for some Gatorade and orange slices. RSL is still trying to create some offensive chances, while the Rev’s are looking for more long ball counters, but neither side is looking very threatening right now. A hard foul on Dema has him down on the pitch after Larentowicz commits the foul, but more important than the free kick is Dema limping off the pitch. Morales lines up to take the shot, a good shot and a nice save by Reis, as Dema is still on the sideline getting some treatment, and the 4^th official says 4 minutes of stoppage time. The play is getting a bit chippy on both sides as the first half comes to a close.

2^nd half

Well the first half was dominated by RSL for the most part, while New England had more shots, RSL had 5 on goal to the Rev’s 4, but it was the defensive miscue that let New England get on the scoreboard first and they returned the favor with a own goal, but possession and play were truly dominated by RSL.

1^st ten of second half

Much like the first half RSL is coming out and controlling the possession and having the better attacking efforts and a good ball played in by Andy is just a bit long for Beltran who was making a run into the box, but so far almost all the action has been in the NE half of the pitch, with the occasional Rev counter attack. A ball into the box and Kenny’s header is not strong enough to get past Reis, who makes the save. Well Andy took another one of those huge shots from distance that went high and wide but it makes you respect the cannon that Andy can use to put some strong shots on goal from just about anywhere. The RSL defense is really stopping any type of attack that NE can muster, while having the majority of possession and attacking chances, and the camera guy gets a great shot of the RCB’s giant chicken (yeah I know you really wanted me to say it the other way, but PG-13 on Sunday). Wow Beltran busts his butt to get the ball back in the box; Kenny tries a Bicycle but fails. Now another chance for RSL on a ball gets loose in the box and Tino Nunez puts the ball into the back of the net for his first MLS goal. RSL is now up 2-1.

2^nd ten of second half

As time moves forward in the match, RSL is slowing the pace and New England is not doing much to pick the pace up and when the Rev’s do get a chance they either put it wide or the RSL defense is quick to regain possession of the ball. It looks a bit like RSL is bunkering in to protect the lead, I wonder if this is more due to players being tired from the heat or a deliberate attempt to get some rest, but NE is starting to look more aggressive than they have at any other time in the match. Rimando is there to make another save, but RSL needs to get back in charge of the possession battle or their lead may not last for long.

3^rd ten of the second half

In the 71^st minute RSL brings in Kenny “Ginger Ninja” Cutler for Kenny “no goals tonight” Deuchar, who once again was one of the hardest working guys on the pitch both in offense and defense, can’t wait for him to catch fire on the scoring front. A good shot by Andy forces Reis to punch the ball over the top of the goal and out of play, giving RSL a corner kick which drops in the box but the Rev’s get it back and drive it out of bounds but back to RSL on the throw in. Well the majority of play is in the middle of the pitch, and that is allowing the Rev’s to press forward a bit more as the match gets close to the last 15 minutes.

Last 15 minutes

RSL seems to have gotten a bit of energy again, and a shot by Beckerman required a save by Reis and was followed by an effort from Andy Williams, getting RSL another corner kick but a bad ball from Morales goes over everyone. RSL continues to try and maintain the possession of the ball, which is limiting the attacks by New England, but RSL doesn’t look like they are much interested in adding another goal as much as they are trying to protect their lead. This is something a month ago in Dallas cost RSL a match, but the defense is much improved in the past few weeks and only the miscue earlier in the match has broken what was a 3 game clean sheet. RSL counters with an attack by Williams, Nunez, and Beckerman that results in a shot just wide, and then a second effort by Nunez that should have resulted in a shot. A foul by the Rev’s give RSL a free kick from just outside the box driven in but cleared out to the far end of the pitch. With just over 5 minutes left RSL pulls Andy Williams and brings on Matias Cordoba who has looked much better in recent weeks. RSL is doing their best to eat up as much of the remaining minutes of the clock as possible, a lot of long balls and balls back to Rimando, all in an effort to secure a much needed home win after two straight draws. The Rev’s have had their fair share of chances in the second half, but a solid effort by the whole RSL team on defense and good recovery by both Borchers and Rimando after the early mistake, has protected the lead. As the clock hits 90:00 it is clear that New England is simply out of steam as their efforts to get into the attack seem very half hearted, and RSL continues to attack as Cordoba just misses putting up a third goal for RSL. That is it, RSL wins 2-1 on another night of firsts.

Summary

A very solid effort for RSL against the Eastern Conference leaders, despite the Rev’s missing a number of players for various reasons they are still a very solid side and have done well when missing players all season long. Despite a early mistake that lead to a quick New England goal, RSL did not get too consumed by the mistake and just a few minutes later evened the match on a set piece that was counted as a own goal by Jay Heaps. RSL dominated possession for long stretches of the match, and in the end had more shots 19 to 14, more shots on goal 8 to 5, and ended up with a 2-1 victory, in a match that had a number of firsts. Our first win over New England at RES, our first 5 game unbeaten streak, Tino Nunez’s first MLS goal, and RSL set their team record by extending their shutout streak to 283 minutes.

RSL is doing the job at home and after last weekend’s road win over Chivas, RSL gets another chance to pick up some road points as they head to the baseball stadium that the Wizards call home. The Wiz will be without Roger Espindoza, but they will have Selena Gomez (star of the Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place’), we know the last time these teams faced off it was only the superhuman efforts of Kevin Hartman that prevented a RSL victory. It should be a good match and chance for 3 more points.

RSL will sit in second place in the Western Conference standings until at least Thursday, when Houston and Dallas will face off, Houston is only one point behind RSL and Dallas trails by three points. A good result in the next 4 matches before the All Star break will go a long way in if RSL makes the playoffs and how long they can stay closer to the top of the standing, as opposed to the bottom.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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