Revs Drop Fifth Straight, Fall 1-0 To Fire

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Matt LaPan, GoLocal Worcester Sports Reporter

It was a beautiful night for soccer in Foxboro, but the New England Revolution could not take advantage. The Revolution dropped their fifth straight match on Saturday night, falling 1-0 to the Chicago Fire.

The action got under way early, and it was the Fire who found the net in just the 3rd minute. The goal was set up on a long, curling pass from Mike Magee over the Revs defense. As the pass curled towards the net Andrew Farrell and Quincy Amarikwa were in a foot race, with Amarikwa getting there first. He chipped it over the reach of Bobby Shuttleworth and gave the Fire the early 1-0 lead. The early Fire goal marked the fifth straight game in which the Revolution conceded the first goal of the game. "Every time this season that we've scored the first goal we have won," defender Andrew Farrell said following the game. "It's tough. The back lineand the team as a whole, we've been giving upsome sloppy goals and this puts us behind."

When asked about the goal, Farrell said, "I'll take blame for that."

The Fire were back on the attack in the 14th minute, creating a great chance off of an A.J. Soares foul. On the restart, Harrison Shipp got the ball and weaved through the Revs defense and let off a strong shot that was turned aside by Shuttleworth. Following the save, Shuttleworth showed clear displeasure with his team's defensive play.

The Revolution created their first chance of the game in the 20th minute off the foot of Teal Bunbury. Bunbury made a nice run to the corner of the box and was fed by Chris Tierney before letting a strong, low shot go. The shot was turned aside by Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

The Revs were back on the attack in the 27th minute after creating a turnover. Diego Fagundez created the turnover and then made how way through the Fire defense and let go a strong shot, but right at Sean Johnson.

Fagundez created another great chance for the Revs in the 35th minute with a beautiful cross. Fagundez got free out wide and crossed the ball in but it bounced by the feet of both Teal Bunbury and Diago Kobayashi before rolling out for a goal kick.

Neither team was able to create a good scoring chance for the rest of the half and the teams went into with the Fire leading 1-0. The Revolution led the possession battle in the half, finishing with 61.8% of possession. The Revs completed 84% of their passes while both teams put two shots on target.

The Fire got action started in the 2nd half as Harrison Shipp put a shot on target, but right at Bobby Shuttleworth.

The Revolution had their first good chance of the half on a Chris Tierney free kick in the 60th minute. The free kick was won by Diago Kobayashi and Tierney curled in a great shot but it was turned aside by a diving Sean Johnson. Moments later, Teal Bunbury let loose a strong shot but it rolled wide of the net.

The next good chance did not comer until the 75th minute when Patrick Mullins let off a strong shot, but again the shot was saved by Johnson. The shot was set up by Andrew Farrell's great pass into the middle.

The Fire had their chance to put another one on the board in the 78th minute but were denied by Bobby Shuttleworth. Matthew Fondy found himself in possession of the ball one-on-one with Shuttleworth after A.J. Soares was unable to control the ball. Foudy tried a low shot but Shuttleworth stopped it and kept the Revs within a goal.

The Revs nearly brought the game even in the 84th minute when they were awarded a penalty, but Sean Johnson came up with a huge save for the Fire. The penalty was created when Jerry Bengtson was brought down by Gonzalo Segares inside the box. With normal penalty taker, Lee Nguyen, suspended, Chris Tierney took the penalty for the Revs. He delivered a good shot top his left but Johnson got a hand on it. The shot spun in the air and hit the post and bounced off the goal line before Johnson fell on the ball and preserved the 1-0 lead.

The Revs created multiple opportunities within the final minutes of the game but were unable to get the equalizer and fell 1-0.

"Tonight, I thought we were going to come out flying," Revolution head coach Jay Heaps said following the loss. "And we got punched right in the face in the first three and a half minutes. So we have to be better. It's on us."

With the loss the Revolution fall to 7-8-2 with 23 points. In the game, the Revs lost midfielder Andy Dorman to an injury after he collided with Bakary Soumare following a shot in the 26th minute. When asked about Dorman's status following the game, Heaps did not have any update but did say it was a "significant" injury. The Revolution will travel to Los Angles to take on the Galaxy on July 16 before flying to Dallas to take on FC Dallas next Saturday.