In front of their biggest crowd of the year, the New England Revolution beat the Chicago Fire 1-0 tonight. Teen sensation Diego Fagundez with the winner in the first half with a spectacular goal from 25-yards.
This was by far the best 90 minutes New England have played in a long time. They were compact at the back and Bobby Shuttleworth barely had a save to make all night.
Revs coach Jay Heaps gave Blair Gavin his first start of the season and he impressed in the middle of the park alongside Kelyn Rowe. They both protected the back four really well and Gavin in particular linked well with the forwards.
Heaps played Fagundez out wide tonight and he played havoc down both flanks. The Chicago Fire had no answer to him tonight.
One common thread throughout New England’s season, has been their ability to self-destruct at critical junctions of the game. Tonight we did not see that. The players kept their concentration for the whole 90 minutes and the result was the teams 8th win of the season.
The Fire did not have many answers tonight as they were really disappointing. Coming into tonight they were in second place in the East, but they were one of the poorest teams I have seen at Gillette all season. Maybe it was an off night for them, but they will need a much better performance, especially from Chris Rolfe if the Fire are to go deep into the playoffs.
