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Major League Soccer Online
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Despite dominating, Revs come away with another loss
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DENVER, CO. – A soccer game can’t be won if a team doesn’t take advantage of it’s chances and the New England Revolution proved that on July 4th, losing to Colorado 1-0 despite creating the majority of good opportunities and dominating the possession. After seeing Colorado goalkeeper Joe Cannon earn Man of the Match for his several great saves to deny the Revs from scoring, opposing goalkeepers have now earned Man of the Match 5 times in the Revs 8 losses. The losses can’t just be blamed on good goalkeeping however, as the Revs certainly haven’t helped their cause by some very poor shot placement. Just like in the other losses, the Revs helped the goalie out by sending several point blank shots directly at him. Now with a 3-8-3 record and two games out of a playoff spot again, the Revs head into the away leg of a home and away series with the Chicago Fire that could see the Revs either leap frog the Fire into fourth or fall much deeper into last place.
Coming into Colorado without 9 players due to injury, seven of which were projected starters at the beginning of the season, a tie would’ve looked good for the Revs considering they also had the high altitude to deal with as well as a massive crowd showing up to see the post-game fireworks. With all this in mind, the Revs switched back to a more defensive 4-4-2 formation from the 3-5-2 formation they had been using recently. The 4-4-2 formation looked more like a 4-5-1 with Pat Noonan the lone forward and Clint Dempsey and Felix Brillant making runs out of the midfield to join him from time to time. The defense held strong most of the match despite Steve Ralston being moved from his usual right midfield spot into right defense and Jay Heaps being moved from his usual right defense position to center defense along side Avery John and left defender Marshall Leonard. The midfield was led by three first year MLS players as rookies Felix Brillant and Clint Dempsey lined up with Jose Cancela, captain Joey Franchino and Irish midfielder Richie Baker, also in his first year in the league. Matt Reis took over in goal for Adin Brown, who led the Revs to 0-0 draws the past two times they played Colorado and is currently suffering from a concussion, but should be back next week. Also missing from action were normal starters Carlos Llamosa (left knee sprain), Joe-Max Moore (right knee sprain), Rusty Pierce (right quadriceps contusion), Shalrie Joseph (left hip flexor/quadriceps), Brian Kamler (left hamstring strain), and Taylor Twellman (right hamstring strain) as well as back-ups Kyle Singer (right shoulder sprain) and Andy Dorman (left hamstring strain). With all these injuries the Revs could not even field a full bench that included emergency call-up ‘keeper Clint Baumstark, defender Daouda Kante and midfielders Luke Vercollone and Bobby Thompson, who signed a developmental contract with the Revs on July 1st. Twellman, Kamler and Brown could all be back as early as next week, while Joseph will probably be out at least another week and Joe-Max Moore and Rusty Pierce have started training, but both are almost certainly out at least another 3 weeks. One good thing to come out of the match was that no yellow cards were given nor were there any injuries, so no more players should miss next weekend’s must-win match against the Fire.
Richie Baker sent in several dangerous crosses from the right flank throughout the match, including one in the 12th minute that Pat Noonan sent on target with a hard left-footed volley from around 6 yards out. Goalie Joe Cannon was able to knock it down and pounce on the loose ball before anyone could get to it.
Clint Dempsey threatened to extend his three game goal scoring streak in the 29th minute, when he ran past two Colorado defenders before sending a hard shot from just outside the box on target. Cannon was up to the task, however, and made a diving save to prevent the goal.
Nine minutes later, Cannon made a leaping save on a point-blank Pat Noonan shot off a perfect Jose Cancela cross.
Noonan had a great chance to open the scoring eight minutes after half time, when he got free on a Joey Franchino free kick. Noonan sent a hard header on target, but right at Cannon, who didn’t even need to move to saved it.
Noonan set up Dempsey in the 54th minute, when he received a pass in the box that he back-heeled to a wide-open Dempsey. Dempsey took a touch to advance to the 6-yard box before sending a weak shot right at Cannon, blowing a great chance.
The Rapids took the lead on their first and only real chance of the match in the 74th minute, when Chris Henderson headed a Matt Crawford cross on target. Matt Reis tipped the ball off the cross bar, but Alberto Delgado got to the rebound and sent a shot that deflected off the fallen Reis and went into the net. The Rapids were able to keep the Revs from equalizing in the last quarter hour of the match despite a lot of offensive pressure.
The Revs next travel to Chicago on Sunday, July 11th in a crucial match against the Fire, which they trail by five points in the standings for the final playoff spot. The match can be seen live at 9:30PM ET on Fox Sports Net New England. They then travel back to Foxboro for a Wednesday night match also against the Fire. The two matches may very well be the two most important matches of the year for the Revs. Starting with the match on Sunday, the Revs have four games in ten days in their toughest two weeks all year. |
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Email: sean@mlsfan.net
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East
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Team Name
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Pts
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Chicago
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3
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Columbus
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1
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New York
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1
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DC United
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0
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Kansas City
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0
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New England
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0
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Toronto
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0
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West
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Team Name
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Pts
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Dallas
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4
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Chivas USA
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3
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Colorado
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3
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Houston
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1
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Los Angeles
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1
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Salt Lake
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1
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Top 10 Scorers
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Player Name
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Gls
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Ruiz
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2
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Cooper
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2
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Cunningham
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2
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Kljestan |
1
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Brown
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1
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Emilio
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1
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H. Gomez
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1
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Findley
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1
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Razov
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1
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Pause
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1
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