The New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire met at Gillette Stadium tonight in a battle of struggling MLS teams.
The Fire had been a bogey team for New England as they had failed to beat Chicago in the previous 8 matches.
Live Commentary
First Half
9′ Nyassi sprung free with a great ball over the top from Mansally, he waited too long and got a bad angle though. Routine save.
13′ – Revs free kick finds the head of Shalrie Joseph whose glancing header can’t find Lekic at the far post #revs #fire
16′ Nazarit fools Franco Coria at the edge of the #revs box with a quick move but his shot curls and hits the top corner of the post and bar
20′ – Nyassi finds Lekic at the back post and the Dane corrals it in and fires directly at Johnson, who makes the save.
23′ – New England really on the front foot here, as Shalrie Joseph drops a pass off to Pat Phelan whose volleyed attempt is saved well
28′ – More from the #revs as Barnes finds Alston on a long ball who heads down to Lekic, who fires a left-footed volley that is saved well
32′ 1-0 CHI: Great counter sees Nyarko hold off Nyassi and hit Oduro on the counter. Oduro’s run + quick release caught #revs offguard.
38′ 1-0 CHI- Dreadful miss by Mansally from six yards after Nyassi skins Segares and serves it on a platter for his fellow Gambian. #revs
41′ 1-0 CHI – Revs earn a corner, taken by Tierney, and the cross is parried away by Johnson. Revs still troubling and creating chances.
First Half Summary
1-0 Chicago at the half. New England looked the best they have looked all season going forward. But its the same old story. They cannot buy a goal. Chicago look dangerous on the counter-attack and the more the Revs throw men forward, the more dangerous Chicago will be on the counter.
Second Half
No changes for both teams at half-time.
48′ 1-1: Lekic just barely onside and scores a goal to tie up the game. New England get lucky there as Phelan scuffed a shot and it went straight to Lekic. Fire furious that he wasn’t given offside. Was a very close call.
53′ 1-1: Tierney just misses header from a Nyassi cross. Chicago have no answer to Nyassi tonight.
54′ – Tierney flicks the ball into the side netting on the near post corner attempt for the Revs as they go in search of that second goal.
59′-Yellow card to Fire’s Cristian Nazarit for an elbow/punch. Lucky to just get a yellow card for that.
60′ (1-1) – Revs earn yet another corner kick, and Nyassi’s close range effort is stopped short post by Johnson.
66′ – Yellow given to Chicago’s Segares just outside the penalty box. Joseph takes a quick free-kick to Mansally who blasts the ball over. Need to hit the target from there.
72′ 1-1: Ryan Guy comes on for Tierney. He’s a right winger by trade, but will play on the left here I think as Nyassi has looked great on the right.
73′ 1-1: Immediate contribution from Guy as he clears off the line from Barouch’s header. That was his first touch as a New England player.
78′ 1-1: Joseph yanks the back of Nyarko’s jersey to earn a yellow card.
80′ 1-1: Reis with a heck of a save. Barouch with a crafty ball to Oduro on the right side. The Ghanaian sees his shot deflected over the bar.
87′ 1-1: Ferrari put through on goal down the right, offers a low driven shot that Reis makes a great save to keep out.
90’+ 1-1: Wonderful piece of skill by Rev’s Lekic, sends his effort just wide right of Johnson’s goal .
Game Summary
A draw didn’t suit either side as they both created good enough chances to win this game. The 4-4-2 formation suits the Revs much better as they are much more of a threat going forward. Chicago looked very dangerous on the counter-attack and the longer the game went, the more likely they looked like scoring.
