The Revolution defense had a busy night versus DC. Photo/Kari Heistad
The New England Revolution keep finding ways to blow leads.
The most recent occasion—a 1-1 tie versus D.C. United on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium-was legendary. D.C. tied the game in the 81st minute, taking advantage of the Revolution playing with nine men due to Chris Tierney (52nd) and Lee Nguyen (58th) earning red cards for unforced physical play.
Though the Revolution have maintained their unbeaten home record, they’ve also extended their winless run to four games.
The decision also keeps D.C. United in the Eastern Conference’s top spot, two points ahead of the Revolution with one game in hand.
The Revolution settled for one point. Photo/Kari Heistad
However, it appeared as though the Revolution were poised to steal a valuable three points from their northeastern rivals. Charlie Davies put the Revolution ahead on his fifth goal of the season at the tail-end of a lackluster, possession-dominated first half.
In the final minute of stoppage time, Tierney’s corner kick found Juan Agudelo at the heart of the area, his free header getting tipped away by D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid. Davies pounced on the rebound, though, easily poking the ball into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
D.C. didn’t have much of the game until the Revolution lost two of their players. Jairo Arrietta’s equalizer came as the Revolution surrendered space on the flanks. In the 82nd minute, Taylor Kemp found room on the left side of the field, then played the ball into the area for a wide-open Arrietta to push a shot past goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.
Tierney’s absence—which allowed the space on the left—was caused by his kicking an on-rushing Chris Pontius. Nguyen left the game with his second yellow, his elbow on Davy Arnaud getting penalized by match referee Mark Geiger.
The Revolution were already without a number of players ahead of the game. Darrius Barnes and Daigo Kobayashi are both out with long term injuries, while Andy Dorman couldn’t play due to yellow card accumulation.
Not having Dorman pushed Jermaine Jones back into midfield, which helped the Revolution maintain possession and an edge in transitions once D.C. took the man-advantage. But the Revolution will be shorthanded again next weekend against the Los Angeles Galaxy as they’ll be without Nguyen and Tierney.
On the surface, Nguyen and Tierney’s unforced errors cost the Revolution a key result. But, at least, fighting for the point while being down by two players should draw some inspiration for the haul that’s ahead.
If you want to reach Julian email him at julianccardillo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @juliancardillo
