Revs, Sounders Play to a Drab 0-0 Draw

Photo credit: Kristian Cardillo

New England Revolution 0-Seattle Sounders FC 0

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – How drab of a match was Saturday’s 0-0 draw between the New England Revolution and Seattle Sounders FC? Drab enough to elicit an apology from the road coach.

Following the scoreless affair, which was fortunately followed by a fireworks display, Revolution coach Brad Freidel told the media that his counterpart offered an apology for his team’s display of ugly soccer.

Photo Credit: Kristian Cardillo

“Brian Schmetzer said even after the game, ‘Sorry we played like that, but we had to,’” Friedel said. “I don’t know why they had to. I know they’re in a bad situation this season, but they still have some wonderful players on the team.”

Yes, Schmetzer had the talented Nicolas Lodeiro along with U.S. Internationals Clint Dempsey, Chad Marshall, and Cristian Roldan at his disposal. Then again, the Sounders were playing their third match in eight days, and 3,000 miles away from home, no less.

In fact, Schmetzer all but acknowledged he wasn’t seeking style points or brilliant play. Rather, the sole focus was getting a point.

“It wasn’t, at times, our best soccer of the year, but it’s a point – a point on the road,” Schmetzer said. “Probably a lot of people didn’t think we’d get anything out of this game, so it’s another testament to the group that’s in that locker room that they don’t quit.”

On the flip side, the Revolution struggled to unclog the channels and generate much offense against Seattle’s compact shape. This from a team that lit up last-place D.C. for three goals a week ago.

Even with Diego Fagundez, Cristian Penilla, and Teal Bunbury all in good form going into Saturday’s contest, the Revolution were held to single shot on goal – shot that came from, of all players, right back Andrew Farrell.

“Any system that gets put in front of you, you have to try to break it down,” Friedel said. “I’ll watch the game of course. I thought in the second half, we were a bit better and there was more energy to the game.”

In fact, the Revolution only managed nine total shots against the weary Sounders, who successfully kept the hosts quiet throughout.

“It was tough overall, throughout the whole game,” Revolution midfielder Diego Fagundez said. “It was tough for us to take shots. I don’t think we took a lot of them. It’s just one of those games. It doesn’t feel good right now.”

Another player who echoed that emotion was Revolution striker Juan Agudelo, who could only offer his insight on what the team could’ve done better against Seattle’s negative approach.

“I think we just have to be a little bit more aggressive once we won the ball, because once we let them get bunkered in, it made it more difficult on us to try to go through,” Agudelo said. “We should have realized that wasn’t working. When I had the ball, I tried to accelerate as much as I can forward, but they were still able to close down.”

While the match was far from aesthetically pleasing, Friedel did mention he liked what he saw from his players after the break, even if it wasn’t enough to collect all three points.

“We don’t have many games like this that aren’t exciting, so to speak,” Friedel said. “I thought the second half, we were better, actually by a long way.”