Reaching the Eastern Conference Final has become old hat for the Revolution considering that they have now reached that game eight times in the franchise's long history (they are an MLS original club that started in 1996). However, I doubt that there was ever a more improbable run in team annals to reach that stage than this season's wacky edition. New England led from start to finish this afternoon at Exploria Stadium as they put together their second straight huge upset, 3-1 vs. Orlando City SC in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. With their latest fantastic result, they will next get to play at Columbus on Sunday afternoon (3, ABC) in the Eastern Conference Final for a spot in the 2020 MLS Cup. Did I mention that the Revolution have never won an MLS Cup (0-5) and this is the furthest they've gone in the playoffs since their last ill-fated journey to the Final in 2014?
Once again, the Revs were ably led by their three best players: midfielder Gustavo Bou scored a brace (two goals) while fellow midfielder Carles Gil bagged a penalty kick and added an assist then finally, goalkeeper Matt Turner (2 saves) stepped up and made perhaps the biggest play of the game as he stopped Orlando's superstar midfielder Nani on a penalty kick that would have tied it at 2-2 in the 74th minute. Soccer is all about dictating the game which usually means scoring the first goal. Just like their 2-0 shutout of top-seeded Philadelphia in the first round last week, New England jumped at the opportunity to take an early lead and then they doubled it before Orlando knew what had hit them.
Keep in mind, this was the first time in its six seasons in MLS that Orlando City had even reached the playoffs and they needed an absolutely bonkers penalty kick shootout to survive against NYCFC in the previous round just to get here in the first place. What I'm trying to say is that they were understandably a bit nervous from the beginning and you could tell that pretty early on as midfielder Oriol Rosell took down New England defender Tajon Buchanan in the 15th minute for a penalty kick. Gil gave Orlando City goalkeeper Brian Rowe (3 saves) no chance to stop his shot as he blasted it straight down the middle and into the net two minutes later.
Before the home team had any time to recover, they were down 2-0 as Revs striker Adam Buksa's initial shot (from a perfect low cross by Buchanan) hit the post but Bou was alertly there to smash the ball in for a 2-0 lead in the 25th minute. New England only really made two mistakes (of course they were big ones) on the day and the first came in the 33rd minute as their defense couldn't clear the ball out of a dangerous area in the box and Turner was uncharacteristically out of position after making a save. This allowed Orlando midfielder Junior Urso to swoop in and crank the rebound past a bunch of bodies between him and the net. As ugly as that moment was for the Revolution, full marks to them for not letting it affect them too much as Buksa forced a spectacular diving save from Rowe only five minutes later.
Nursing a 2-1 lead at halftime, New England was in good position to see out the game and that only increased when Orlando midfielder Mauricio Pereyra made a wild sliding challenge on Revs midfielder Matt Polster. With his studs up, Pereyra's reckless decision cost him and his team dearly because he was shown a red card so Orlando City was forced to play a man down for the final 30+ minutes as they tried to rally from down 2-1. Few in MLS possess a more lethal shot than Bou and he will let it fly from just about anywhere including well outside the box. Rowe made a pair of good stops on Bou and New England couldn't connect on either corner kick that came from those chances. Polster was on the other end of a penalty kick call as his foul of striker Daryl Dike in the 73rd minute led to the best play of Turner's blooming professional career. The Portuguese international and former Manchester United star tried to hit a low shot into the left corner but Turner guessed correctly and got over in time to deflect it out of bounds with his Inspector Gadget arm.
That took the wind out of Orlando's sails for the most part since they probably knew in their heart of hearts that was their golden opportunity to tie it up. New England did its best to smartly waste time and then pounce when the time was right for that killer insurance tally. That curtain came in the 86th minute fittingly with Gil putting a through ball to the top of the box that Bou got to before Rowe and his toe poke went in for what had to be one of the best and most meaningful goals of his life. PS check out his celebration in honor of recently deceased soccer icon Diego Maradona after his first goal of this win: it was incredibly moving as Bou found an Argentinian flag and pointed to the sky. When the final whistle blew, the Revs collectively went crazy with delight on the field as they had knocked off another darling of the league.
At this point, you'd be pretty idiotic to write off the Revolution as a fluke. Yes, they were the No. 8 seed in the East (out of 9 playoff clubs) but let's not forget that Gil missed much of the disjointed regular season and Bou was not healthy at times either. Obviously, every team deals with injuries and bad performances but you can see over these three playoff matches how much of a difference a healthy Gil and Bou can make. All I know is that New England is only one win away from another MLS Cup appearance and two from finally putting to bed the ugliest Albatross in Major League Soccer. With USMNT players such as striker Gyasi Zardes (who scored a goal in tonight's 2-0 win vs. Nashville) and midfielder/possession machine Darlington Nagbe, the Crew are more than formidable opposition. Still, bet against New England at your own peril or how about you check in with Philly or Orlando to see what they are up to at the moment.
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