New England Revolution
The Revolution lost 2-1 to the Dynamo in Houston on Wednesday night. The loss leaves New England almost out of the playoffs, although postseason hopes remain technically a possibility.
Despite several good possibilities by each teams, the rating remained 0-0 at halftime. Ezequiel Ponce gave the house team the lead within the fiftieth minute with a robust shot from outside the penalty area, but New England equalized lower than five minutes later because of a Carles Gil penalty (the Revolution's first penalty in regulation). 2024 MLS season awarded).
There continued to be opportunities for every team, but ultimately it was Houston that took advantage. Poor set piece marking was again the Revolution's downfall as Erik Sviatchenko gave the Dynamo the lead for good with a top quality side volley within the 68th minute.
Here are a number of insights:
The cruel irony of an excellent performance.
Going to Houston (currently fifth within the Western Conference) and getting a result was all the time going to be a difficult task for Caleb Porter's team. But for long stretches of the sport – especially in the primary half – New England gave the impression to be the higher team.
With summer signings Luca Langoni and Alhassan Yusuf back within the starting XI, it was interesting to see the chemistry increase across the squad. On Wednesday it looked as if it would have clearly taken a step forward.
Gil, all the time at the guts of the Revolution's approach, had a wonderful game (he led the team in touches and calmly converted the penalty). Yusuf showcased his box-to-box skills as a central midfielder, leading the team in passes (a rarity in any lineup that features Gil).
And after struggling to create scoring opportunities in recent games, New England could have easily taken the lead at halftime. However, possibilities of completion remain uncertain.
Bobby Wood, the centre-forward chosen to switch the mercurial Giacomo Vrioni, also failed to seek out the web for New England (though this have to be acknowledged within the case of his reflex shot from close range within the tenth minute). Houston goaltender Steve Clark).
“With the chances we had and the way we played in the first half, we should have easily been up 1-0 or 2-0,” Porter said after the sport. “We have to make the most of our chances.”
Playoff hopes are fading
The loss leaves the Revolution only one point ahead of Chicago and in last place within the Eastern Conference. Under these circumstances, playoff ambitions already seem to be an illusion.
But given the structure of the MLS – during which nine of 15 teams in a conference could make the postseason – New England still held out the slightest hope in recent weeks.
Now those hopes are all but extinguished. With three games to go, New England must overcome a six-point deficit within the standings. Admittedly, the Revolution still has at the least one game left against their opponents, albeit against reigning MLS Cup champions Columbus.
The other two games are against DC United (the ultimate home game of the season this Saturday) and a pleasant trip south to face officially crowned Supporters' Shield winners Inter Miami.
Expecting wins against Columbus and Miami is silly (but actually not unattainable). However, that that is the team's remaining path to a possible playoff bid is a testament to how poorly all the 12 months has been. The loss to Houston is the Revolution's 18th lack of the season and the third-most single-year loss in club history (after the miserable 1998 and 1999 seasons).
The lack of attention to detail is noticeable again.
The Revolution's goals, each of which got here after the break, were thematically similar, with the away team failing to get the main points right.
For the primary goal, it was a foul pass from Matt Polster from his own half that began the scene. Houston was intercepted by Brazilian midfielder Artur and took advantage of the big space in front of the Revolution defense. Adalberto Carrasquilla received Artur's deflected interception and was allowed to show and lift his head without resistance.
Carrasquilla, who led the sport in touches (98) and passes accomplished (72), easily found Ponce, who had left far an excessive amount of time and space even in a critical position just outside the penalty area. Polster, who was asked to mark several players in the meanwhile (Carrasquilla after which Ponce), ultimately couldn't do either of them. Ponce's goal was quality, a prerequisite to beating Revolution goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic – who had one other good game despite the result.
The second goal was a problematic issue for the Revolution in 2024 and got here from a set piece. Carrasquilla, once more the orchestrator, played his centrally placed free kick on the near post. New England's coverage was flawed, leaving two Houston players to be covered by Yusuf alone.
Like Polster, the Revolution midfielder – as talented as he obviously is – was unable to mark two players. The proven fact that Sviatchenko was allowed to chest the ball within the opponent's penalty area after which volley it into the far corner of the goal was in some ways the icing on the cake for New England's poor defensive organization.
Although the Revolution played well for much of Wednesday's game, it was the “little things” – regular turnovers, poor marking – that took center stage.
“In my opinion, we failed on the details,” Porter said, “and that is the area of our team that we need to continue to work on.”
image credit : www.boston.com