Revolution catch Fire, but settle for a draw
Revolution 1 Fire 1
A wet, dreary day at Gillette Stadium yielded the Revolution’s first point of the Major League Soccer season, but a 1-1 draw with the Chicago Fire on Saturday afternoon felt like it could’ve been more.
Both goals were scored in the first half in Foxborough. Chicago’s Hugo Cuypers put the visitors ahead in the 20th minute, with the Gil brothers connecting on the equalizer four minutes into stoppage time, Nacho heading home a Carles rebound with essentially the final play before the break.
The second half was filled with missed chances for both teams, but mostly for the Revolution, who felt they had multiple fouls ignored by replacement referee Kyle Johnston in the latter stages as they swarmed for a game-winner. Chicago and New England, longtime Eastern Conference rivals, played a far more physical game after halftime, with Carles Gil in particular upset and going after Johnston for the lack of whistles.
Each team ended up with four yellow cards, with Gil and teammate Tomás Chancalay drawing theirs for dissent at match’s end.
New England (0-4-1) did avoid defeat to cap its first week without a match in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, but it remains winless five matches into the league season, just the second time that has happened in franchise history. In 2001, the Revolution opened 0-6 on their way to ninth place in a 12-team league. (They did, however, reach the final of that year’s US Open Cup.)
Cuypers scored early, backing his goal in Chicago’s wild comeback win against Montreal last week. Midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie played ahead to Fabian Herbers, who worked into the penalty area and spied Cuypers in the middle of the field alone, behind Henry Kessler and Andrew Farrell. Herbers centered through Kessler’s legs and Cuypers redirected past Revolution keeper Earl Edwards Jr. with his right foot.
Falling behind again appeared to wake the Revolution, who’d struggled to connect on passes in the early action despite Chicago being one of the league’s weaker defensive teams. Their goal, however, needed the help of an error by Fire keeper Spencer Richey.
Chancalay controlled near midfield and sent a long pass across to DeJuan Jones, who controlled in the corner of the box before flicking behind to a charging Carles Gil. A left-footed shot from Gil appeared well covered by Richey, but the ball slammed off his hands and bounced free in front of the goal. Nacho Gil, charging on the doorstep, simply bumped it home with his head for his first MLS goal of the season.
New England held a significant 63-37 possession advantage for the match, but it continued to struggle to finish chances, totaling just six shots and four on target.
The misses were nearly magnified in the 67 th minute, when Edwards — dribbling some 20 yards out of his penalty area — had the ball taken away by Chicago’s Georgios Koutsias. By the time Koutsias controlled it in the corner of the penalty area, however, Edwards was back in position and helped by defender Ryan Spaulding to avoid giving away the go-ahead goal.
Saturday was the sixth straight tie head-to-head for the Revolution and Fire.