Despite fielding a strong side, the New England Revolution were knocked out of the US Open Cup by D.C United last night, losing 3-1 on te night.
New England almost got off to a perfect start when in the 15th minute Diego Fagundez, came inches from putting the Revolution in front after 15 minutes. Diego cut in from the left and curled a shot through a maze of players that beat D.C. United goalkeeper Joe Willis but unfortunately hit the face of the far post and was cleared.
Diego’s goal attempt was a rare foray in attack for the Revolution as D.C. forced Matt Reis itno making four saves in the opening half-hour. The best of which was a sprawling save low to his left on Nick DeLeon’s bouncing drive in the 29th minute.
Pontius was much more accurate in the 44th minute when he latched onto a loose ball into the box and smashed the ball home off the post. A terrible time to concede a goal.
But it took the Revolution just eight minutes to equalize after the break when the much-maligned Juan Toja scored from a free kick from 25 yards. His curling shot hitting both the underside of the crossbar and D.C. goalkeeper Joe Willis’ back before bouncing over the line.
United capitalized on a set piece of its own in the 69th minute, when a deep corner was headed home by De Rosario.
Once again Jay Heaps had to be fuming at conceding from a set piece. Two bad goals to give up defensively and now New England had to chase the game again.
New England’s best chance to find another equalizer came in the 85th minute when Agudelo’s shot hit the inside of the left post and bounced across the face of goal before being cleared to safety. Revs fans knew then that this was not going to be their night.
Just two minutes later D.C. put the result beyond doubt when Pajoy was fouled by Jose Goncalves inside the box and converted the ensuing penalty kick himself.
A disappointing defeat for New England. Conceding right before the half and then from a corner are defensive mistakes that this team had not been making. But after being the best team in MLS defensively for most of the season, the Revs have now let in 9 goals in their last three games. That has to be worrying to Heaps. Have teams figured out New England defensively, or is it more due to playing squad players in two of those three games?
We will get an answer this weekend as the Revs return to league action against Chivas USA. The defeat in Vancouver was disappointing and New England cannot afford anything less than a win in LA on Saturday.
