Revs Push Forward But Cannot Close The Deal In 1-1 Draw

The Revs and the Chicago Fire played a very entertaining match Saturday Night at Gillette Stadium. The Revs looked much sharper, and were really attacking a great deal of the match. Both clubs had several chances to win this game, but in the end the result of a draw was warranted. Revs push forward but cannot close the deal in 1-1 draw with the Chicago Fire.

The first half saw some wonderful back and forth action with both clubs creating scoring chances. The Fire started their assault in the 4th minute. Jalil Anibaba took a great shot on goal, that was tipped over the net by Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis.

The Revs came back in the 9th minute for their first quality chance of the match. Kenny Mansally sent a long pass to Sainey Nyassi. He took a low hard shot from the right side, that was nicely saved by Chicago Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

The back and forth play continued with the Fire having the next quality opportunity to score. In the 16th minute, Cristian Nazarit takes a toe poke of a shot that hits the post.

The Revs come right back in the 21st minute. Nyassi sends a great cross to Rajko Lekic. He has a great strike that Johnson again has to make a quality save on.

The Revs continued to attack 7 minutes later. Kevin Alston heads down the ball to Lekic who has a strike that forces Johnson to deflect the shot away. The Revs were putting the pressure on, but just could not get a goal past the goalkeeper at that point of the match.

Even with all the positive play the Revs had in the first half, it would be the Fire that would be first to get on the scoreboard. In the 32nd minute, Patrick Nyarko springs Dominic Oduro forward towards the Revs goal. He is able to get by Darrius Barnes, and beat Reis to give the Fire the 1-0 lead in the match.

The Revs had an excellent opportunity to get level in the 38th minute. Nyassi who was very dangerous in this match, sent a great delivery to Mansally, but his header unfortunately went over the goal.

As the half ended the Revs trailed, but they showed enough to feel confident that this match was far from over. The Fire led 1-0 after the first 45 minutes.

It wouldn’t take long for the Revs get the equalizer in the second half. In the 48th minute, Barnes has a throw in that went deep into the box. Mansally had a header that fell to Pat Phelan. He was able to send a great pass to Lekic who slammed the ball past Johnson. The Revs were then level with the Fire at 1-1.

The Fire would have some real quality chances to win this match in the second half. In the 73rd minute, off of a corner kick, a header by Orr Barouch is cleared off the line by Ryan Guy. Two minutes later Aduro sends a great pass to Nazarit. Luckly for the Revs his shot missed the net.

In the 81st minute, Daniel Paladini had a great rocket shot from distance that was deflected over the goal by Reis. The pressure continued 7 minutes later. Gabriel Ferrari also had a quality shot on net, that is again saved by the Revs goalkeeper.

Both clubs had great chances to get the victory in stoppage time. Oduro had a great shot for the Fire that was blocked away by Barnes.

The Revs had the final opportunity of the match to score. In the final seconds, Lekic had a strike that just goes wide of the net.

This was a very entertaining match in which both clubs had some serious chances to get all 3 points. In the end both got something from the game. The Revs and the Fire ended the match with a 1-1 draw.

The play in the final third is improving for New England. The Revs did not get the victory Saturday Night, but showed they were committed to attacking, and this could lead to victories in the near future.

The Revs will next be in action on Sunday June 26th at Qwest Field to face the Seattle Sounders. The match will start at 4PM EST.

New England Revolution: Matt Reis, Darrius Barnes, A.J. Soares, Franco Coria, Kevin Alston, Chris Tierney (Ryan Guy 71), Pat Phelan, Shalrie Joseph ,Sainey Nyassi, Kenny Mansally (Zack Schilawski 81), Rajko Lekic