REVS HOME IN ON FIRST WIN OF YEAR
Last-gasp goal hands Friedel first win
FOXBORO — Revolution defender Chris Tierney cleared the first hurdle when he staked his claim for the free kick poised to conclude the home opener against Colorado yesterday afternoon.
The placement fit his left foot better, anyway. He lined it up to curl inside the right post from 19 yards, and then reproduced an action he estimated he practiced 100 times in the previous week and followed through countless times since joining the team in 2008.
“It was on my side,” Tierney explained after his deflected free kick lifted the Revs to a 2-1 victory at Gillette Stadium. “It’s angled for a left-footer there. I just figured — knowing it was the last kick of the game — I’m putting it on target. I’m not putting it over. I’m going to make him make a save if nothing else. We got a lucky bounce, which we deserved.”
Tierney’s winner three minutes into stoppage time gave the Revs their first victory under head coach Brad Friedel and settled a slowburning game that eventually flickered to life after halftime.
Diego Fagundez opened the scoring shortly after the restart, and keeper Matt Turner produced a penalty save on Jack Price shortly after the hour to protect the lead. But Niki Jackson equalized for the Rapids in the 66th minute to eventually set the stage for Tierney’s dramatic finish.
The first half offered few signs of the intrigue to follow, as yellow cards for aerial clashes (two) outnumbered genuine opportunities on goal (one) before the interval. Tierney’s arrival as a replacement for the injured Gabriel Somi (harmed in a clash of heads with Jack McBean) inside the opening 20 minutes proved the most fateful development.
“I told the players at halftime we only had really three entries into their box in the first half,” Friedel said. “I liked all of our defensive positioning, our shape and our pressure. I liked that we were switching the point of attack. I wanted that to happen a little bit quicker and I wanted the players to be a little bit more aggressive and brave with the ball in the final third.”
Fagundez heeded the directives shortly after halftime by rounding off a storming counter for the Revs’ opener. Cristian Penilla collected a quick, vertical ball out of midfield and rushed forward up the left. Penilla cut inside onto his right once he breached the penalty area, picked out Fagundez’ run through the middle and watched the Leominster talent slot home in the 48th minute.
Turner stepped into the forefront shortly thereafter as the Rapids eventually drew level. He guessed correctly with a dive to his right to deny Jack Price from the penalty spot in the wake of Jalil Anibaba’s foul on McBean, and then happily watched Price flash the rebound over the crossbar.
The intervention kept the Revs’ lead intact, but Jackson subsequently headed Johan Blomberg’s pinpoint curling cross past a late rushing Turner to claim his first MLS goal and draw the Rapids level in the 66th minute.