Photo/Kari Heistad
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – FC Dallas mercilessly tore through the New England Revolution back line on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, beating the hosts 4-2.
In a way, a loss by that margin is a rarity for the Revolution, who hadn’t conceded four goals at home since a 4-2 loss to the Montreal Impact on Sept. 8, 2013.
That said, the Revs have now conceded four goals in two of their last three games; they’re also tied for most goals allowed in MLS (24), with New York City FC, who let in seven goals in a lopsided loss to their rival Red Bulls earlier on Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
No one – be it a Revolution defender, midfielder, forward, or coach – had much to say about how FC Dallas managed to score three unanswered goals after being down 2-1 and deliver a 4-2 knockout punch.
“They waited, they baited and they found places to attack and really went after our center backs,” coach Jay Heaps said during his post game press conference. “They found places to get after our center backs.”
In truth, the Revolution defenders opened the door for the visitors to come back and win.
Dallas’ second goal – Atiba Harris’ header into the net off a Kellyn Acosta corner kick – occurred after Diego Fagundez stepped off the goal line to cover a short pass from the corner flag.
Meanwhile, the visitor’s third strike was a product of a pair of blunders by both of New England’s center backs. First, Andrew Farrell headed a loose ball into the path of a Dallas midfielder, who in turn looped a pass over the top toward Fabian Castillo. Samba – making his first start due to the absence of Jose Goncalves (ribs) – whiffed on a clearance as Castillo essentially walked the ball into the back of the net.
The fourth goal showcased a handful of Revolution players – most of whom were defenders – get beaten over and over again by Tesho Akindele, who just seemed to want to go in on net more than his opponents wanted to stop him.
“When you give up four goals at home, it’s not good enough, it’s pretty [expletive],” said Farrell, who allowed Michael Barrios to get in behind in the second minute, which resulted in Dallas opening goal from the penalty spot. “It’s pretty bad on our part.
“We came in at halftime, 2-2, zero-zero game, then kind of came out flat and just gave up some pretty bad goals today…it happens in soccer but we have to better, you can’t give up four goals and expect to win a game.”
All true. But, what’s the prognosis for the Revolution?
The team currently has three of their four starting defenders either completely injured or lacking in match fitness.
Certainly, losing Gershon Koffie, whose done yeoman’s work to contribute to defending and, as Chris Tierney puts it “put out a lot of fires,” didn’t help.
Meanwhile, the Revolution rightfully prioritized strengthening their attack by signing Kei Kamara nearly two weeks ago. But in the process, they also seem to have forgotten about their defense.
Even Lee Nguyen, who scored from the penalty spot and set up Juan Agudelo’s strike from a 23rd minute freekick, seemed to be disenchanted with the team’s defending.
And, he’s one of the biggest beneficiaries of Kamara’s arrival, not to mention an integral part of the team’s attack.
“I feel like we gave them three soft goals there that we probably could have stopped,” said Nguyen, who wore the captain’s armband on Saturday night. “But, it’s just sometimes how it rolls; you have to move from it and move forward.
“We can’t afford any more of those now…if we can stop those, we’ll be fine.”
If.
To reach Julian, email him at julianccardillo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @juliancardillo
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