Revs Win Their First Playoff Game In Six Years (!) Thanks To A Clutch Wonderstrike By Gustavo Bou

 

    If you're wondering why I never write about the New England Revolution, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for that: for years the team has been a pathetic mess since their loss in yet another MLS Cup way back in 2014 (they are 0-5 all-time in those which seems almost impossible). The club finally started to turn things around in 2019 as they hired Bruce Arena to be their head coach midway through the season after Brad Friedel was a complete disaster. Perhaps most importantly, they signed some big-time designated players (midfielders Gustavo Bou and Carles Gil) who have been great from Day 1 with the Revs. After six long seasons, the team finally won their first playoff match since 2014 with a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Montreal Impact tonight at an empty Gillette Stadium. With that result, they advance to the first round of the playoffs and they'll go to Philadelphia (the top team in MLS this season) next Tuesday night (8, ESPN).

    Wouldn't you know that Gil (finally healthy after missing much of this season with a foot injury) and Bou (who has also battled injuries in 2020 as well) were the two main heroes for New England? 10 of the 14 teams in the Eastern Conference qualified for the postseason in this Covid-19 campaign and Montreal finished ninth so that should tell you most of what you need to know about a team with no players that anyone has ever heard of. However, they are coached by one of the best players of his generation-French striker Thierry Henry-so that's really the only reason to watch them. Talk about a coaching mismatch too since that was Arena's MLS record (by a wide margin) 33rd career playoff victory. 

    You don't need a full tedious recap from an MLS play-in playoff game but the Revs took a 1-0 lead late in the first half (38th minute) as Gil volleyed a perfectly weighted chipped pass from Bou. It was a beautiful play and goal, the likes of which we rarely see in MLS. The Impact had a -10 goal differential in the regular season (that's awful for a playoff team) so they had their work cut out for them trailing 1-0 at halftime. After controlling play for much of the first 45 minutes, the Revolution started to ease up which allowed Montreal to tie it at one in the 61st minute. The Impact had a free kick outside the box and something called Rudy Camacho headed it to Romell Quioto (surely your favorite soccer player in the world) who deposited it into the far corner of New England's net past goalkeeper Matt Turner with a header of his own. Ugh. 

    I was convinced at that point it would go to overtime then penalty kicks where the Revs would no doubt lose in their typical epic fashion. New England striker Adam Buksa hit the crossbar in the first half with a header and similarly in stoppage time of the second half, he saw another one of his headers glance off Montreal goalkeeper Clement Diop's outstretched hand and then off the post. That felt like the Revolution's chance to win it in regulation. Not so fast my friends, thanks to a more than generous amount of stoppage time (over 5 minutes), the Revs were able to get it done as fullback DeJuan Jones was able to get the ball to Bou at the top of the box and he unleashed a rocket into the bottom left corner for an incredible goal that was No. 2 on SportsCenter's Top-10 plays this evening. 

    Would you believe that this will be the sixth meeting of the season between the Revs and the Union? Even more shocking than that is the fact that New England is still looking for their first win against Philly who went 14-4-5 in the regular season including 4-0-1 against the Revolution. The Revs have lost their last three matches with Philadelphia including a 2-0 loss at Subaru Park on Decision Day (the last day of MLS regular season). Obviously, you'd be stupid to bet against the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and Supporters' Shield winner for the best record in the entire league but I will say that I like two simple factors in the road team's favor: 1) while it is a short break between playoff games for New England, Philly figures to be rusty in their first live action in over two weeks plus all the pressure and expectations are on them and 2) aren't the Revs long overdue to beat the Union at some point in 2020? I realize this probably isn't enough to convince you to watch this matchup on Tuesday but then again, we are still in a serious pandemic and winter is just about to begin, so what else could you possibly be doing?

For The 1st Time Since 2007, The Revolution Get Back to the MLS Cup, Now It's Time To Win One

The Revolution tied the Red Bulls 2-2 this afternoon at Gillette Stadium in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship so coupled with their 2-1 win last weekend at Red Bull Arena, New England advanced to their fifth MLS Cup in club history (tying DC United for the most in the Eastern Conference). The Revs are 0-4 in the Cup but for now, they deserve to revel in a great accomplishment. They'll meet the winner of LA/Seattle next Sunday on the West Coast, the Galaxy lead 1-0 heading into tomorrow night's final Western Conference Championship match (9:20, ESPN) in Seattle.

Don't forget, this team had an eight-game winless streak in the middle of this season which had never happened before to an MLS Cup team. New England improved to 12-1-1 since they acquired Jermaine Jones (10-0-1 when he starts) and Lee Nguyen is an MLS MVP candidate but nobody better symbolizes their remarkable turnaround than homegrown striker Charlie Davies. If you are a soccer fan, you no doubt are aware of his incredible recovery but we always wondered if he'd get back his immense talent. After scoring both goals today to go with two against Columbus in the first leg of the previous round (no other Revolution player had done that), Davies declared himself back while also admitting that he's a smarter player these days.

New York scored first, Tim Cahill started in place of the suspended Bradley Wright-Phillips and he came through in the 26th minute by connecting on a pass from Thierry Henry for his first goal of the playoffs. New England didn't take long to get the all-important equalizer though as Davies headed in a cross on a set piece by Chris Tierney in a crowd of players by New York's goal in the 41st minute for his third goal of the postseason. Being tied 1-1 at halftime had to feel like a win for the Revs considering that they would progress with either a win, draw or 1-0 loss.

The Red Bulls didn't roll over by any means as Peguy Luyindula had a header go over in the 52nd minute then seconds later, he was there to pounce on a loose ball and poke it around Bobby Shuttleworth (2 saves) for his third goal of the playoffs. That was the only score that if it held would have resulted in extra time so it's fair to say that Davies' second goal was the most important of the season for the Revs. It was a pretty similar play as Tierney once again crossed it in, this time from the left side rather than the right and Davies headed it past Luis Robles (2 saves).

New England closed out its 2014 campaign at Gillette Stadium with eight straight wins, in fact their last loss here was way back on July 26. Anything can happen in a one-game playoff and obviously, they'll be an underdog against the heavyweight Galaxy or Sounders on their home turf but it's tough to bet against this team at the moment. The Revolution lost in the MLS Cup in 2002 then 2005-2007 so they are long overdue to get the only title that matters in MLS. It would be the perfect manner to kick off what we all hope is a championship filled winter with the Patriots-their Gillette neighbors.

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