Jones Leads Revolution Charge Past Crew

When Jermaine Jones was signed by the New England Revolution he was brought in to help their defense and to give them a boost on the attack occasionally. Who knew that he would turn into the next Diego Maradona? Despite the rain and the Columbus Crew pouring down on their defense, Jones and the Revolution stood firm. With his header in the second, he lifted New England past Columbus and back into second place in the Eastern Conference.

Given that the  lines of the NFL’s New England Patriots were on the field at Gillette Stadium it seemed fitting that the early part of the match was riddled with strong challenges and cautions. In the first half alone, there were ten fouls calls and two yellow cards given.

But play did continue and from even the early part of the match it was clear that the play in the midfield would be integral to both teams success in this match. Midfielder Tony Tchani of the Columbus Crew and Lee Nguyen of the New England Revolution each attempted to control the pace of the match through clever little passes.

Tchani nearly assisted on the games first goal, when his pass found forward Ethan Finlay in just the first minute. But Finlay’s shot went wide. With Crew midfielder Federico Higuain being tracked very closely by Revolution defender Andrew Farrell, the Crew relied heavily on Tchani to create on the periphery of the pitch

Nguyen would have his own opportunities on the Revolution attacking end. His partnership with midfielder Kellyn Rowe helped create goal-scoring opportunities on the flank of the pitch. In the 17th minute Nguyen’s pass into forward Charlie Davies helped set up his cross into forward Teal Bunbury. Bunbury’s shot was on target but just wide of the goal.

Still using the left flank of the pitch to set up their attack, the Revolution were finally successful at breaking through the stifling Crew defense. In the 20th minute, Rowe laid a pass into Nguyen who was able to get past the Crew defenders and bury his shot for his 14th goal of the season.

Despite this setback, Tchani and the Crew midfield continued to press using the counter-attack. Just four minutes after the Revolution took the lead, Tchani was able to find Finlay. Finlay proceeded to do a simple turn-around move on Revolution defender Jose Goncalves, and hit a low shot past goalkeeper Bobby Shuttlesworth to even the score. The goal was Finlay’s ninth of the season.

Both team’s would continue to press through their play-makers in the midfield, with Higuain finally getting in on the action. Higuain would find Finlay on the right side of the pitch with only the keeper to beat in the 42nd minute. But Finlay opted to make another pass as opposed to drilling his shot in the lower right corner and there were no options ready for the deep run.

The second half saw the Crew continue to move the ball effectively through Tchani and Higuain. In the 52nd minute Tchani found Finlay at the top of the penalty box who delivered a quality strike on target. However, Shuttlesworth was there to make the save.

Shuttlesworth would make another strong save in the 59th minute off of a strike by Crew forward Aaron Schoenfeld.

The match would take a different turn in the 60th minute when on a free kick taken by Revolution defender Chris Tierney, Jones would get past his defender and knock a low header into the back of the net. The goal was Jones’ fourth of the season.

Things would get worse for the Crew when in the 70th minute defender Waylon Francis would receive his second yellow card of the match for his tackle on Davies. Down a man the Crew would be unable to muster any other serious opportunities and would lose their first match against the Revolution this season.

With the three points from tonight’s victory, the New England Revolution (16-13-3, 51 points) move back into second place in the Eastern Conference. They will head to Montreal next Saturday to take on the Impact.

For the Columbus Crew (11-11-10, 43 points) this loss coupled with the New York Red Bull earlier in the day means that the club remains in the fifth and final playoff spot. The Crew will host the Philadelphia Union next Saturday in what is likely to be an elimination match.

Men of the Match:

1.) Lee Nguyen- Midfield play early helped establish the tempo. Goal puts him within two of Taylor Twellman’s single-season record for the Revs.

2.) Jermaine Jones- Goal will certainly get the headlines, but his ability to clog up space in the midfield neutralize Higuain for large portions of the match.

3.) Tony Tchani- Helped set up the Crew’s lone goal and was a nuisance for the Revolution defense. Injury seemed to hamper performance in the second half.