Second-half woes once again prove costly to Orange
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — After one week off, the Dynamo’s second-half demons were alive and roaring Saturday afternoon.
The New England Revolution scored twice in the second half to defeat the Dynamo 2-0 at Gillette Stadium.
It is the first time this season the Dynamo (3-2) have been shut out. Entering Saturday, they led MLS with 2.75 goals per game.
The Dynamo have lost both of their road games. In a previous road game against Portland, the Dynamo conceded three second-half goals and lost by two.
Last week’s victory over the New York Red Bulls remains the only game out of five in which the Dynamo have not surrendered a goal in the second half.
New England’s strategy Saturday was to use more long balls, which took away the Dynamo’s ability to pressure high and force turnovers in bad spots.
The Dynamo had to figure out a different way to attack but never did.
New England’s winning goal came in the 52nd minute when Lee Nguyen played a through ball past Dynamo center back Adolfo Machado that Kei Kamara ran onto. Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric came off his line to stop Kamara’s first shot, but Kamara was first to the rebound and hit it into the empty net.
That was part of a hot start for New England (2-2-1) after halftime. The Revolution took two shots in the first half but five in the first eight minutes of the second half.
The Dynamo dragged through most of the second period, but they did find one great opportunity to pull even in the 61st minute.
Midfielder Ricardo Clark played a long, looping ball that league-leading scorer Erick Torres ran onto all alone. Torres dribbled into the penalty area, but his next touch was too heavy and rolled to the goalkeeper.
New England added to its lead in the 72nd minute when Juan Agudelo easily finished a ball that fell to his feet after Deric punched away a cross into the penalty area.