HOUSTON – Major League Soccer MVP candidate Lee Nguyen scored both of the New England Revolution’s goals to lead the Revs to a 2-1, come-from-behind victory on the road over the Houston Dynamo. Nguyen scored his 16th and 17th goals of the year in the 65th and 87th minutes, respectively, to help New England overcome a 1-0 halftime deficit.

With the win, New England (16-13-4, 52 pts.) secured at least a third-place finish in the Eastern Conference, avoiding the Knockout Round between the four and five seeds. The Revs have one game left – next Saturday, October 25, at Gillette Stadium against Toronto FC. With the loss, Houston (11-16-6, 39 pts.) dropped the season series to the Revs, who went 2-1-0 against the Dynamo this season.

Giles Barnes staked the Dynamo to a 1-0 lead in the 37th minute after he pounced on the rebound of an Omar Cummings shot that Bobby Shuttleworth initially saved.

But the Revolution retook command in the second half thanks in large to the play of second half substitutes Charlie Davies (58th minute) and Jermaine Jones (63rd minute). Two minutes after Jones entered, he helped set up the equalizer, springing substitute left back Kevin Alston down the wing. Alston’s low cross found Nguyen unmarked at the top of the area, and the league’s leading midfielder calmly slotted his shot high past Tyler Deric.

The Revs continued to push and struck for the go-ahead goal three minutes from time. Jones again was involved, restarting a play on the left side before hitting a deflected cross that found Charlie Davies inside the area. The Revolution forward to then put a shot on frame, only for Dynamo defender Kofi Sarkodie to clear the shot off the line. However, the rebound fell to Darrius Barnes, who played a short, square pass to Nguyen for the game-winning goal.

Full Match Highlights Here

Key Plays

• 13’ – NE’s Steve Neumann broke up a short pass along the sideline and fed Patrick Mullins, who broke in, but curled his left-footed shot wide of the far post with Kelyn Rowe streaking in unmarked | WATCH THE PLAY
• 32’ – HOU’s Omar Cummings unleashes a shot from distance, but it rises over the crossbar | WATCH THE PLAY
• 37’ – HOU GOAL: Giles Barnes pockets the long rebound for a goal after Omar Cummings’ shot was saved by Bobby Shuttleworth | WATCH THE GOAL

Halftime: Houston Dynamo 1, New England Revolution 0

• 47’ – YELLOW CARD: HOU’s Jermaine Taylor shown yellow for a studs-up tackle on Andrew Farrell while going for the ball. Farrell was substituted off and stretched to the locker room. | WATCH THE PLAY
• 52’ – YELLOW CARD: HOU’s Luis Garrido shown a yellow for a midfield tackle on Lee Nguyen and he turned into space | WATCH THE PLAY
• 59’ – HOU’s Andrew Driver tries to curl a left-footed shot around Bobby Shuttleworth, but he missed wide of the far post | WATCH THE PLAY
• 62’ – NE’s Jose Goncalves chips a pass into the box for an on-rushing Charlie Davies, but two defenders converged on him | WATCH THE PLAY
• 65’ – NE GOAL: Lee Nguyen scores his 16th of the season after Jermaine Jones fed Kevin Alston down the left wing inside a defender, and Alston found Nguyen alone near the edge of the box and Nguyen placed his shot inside the upper right corner | WATCH THE GOAL
• 73’ – YELLOW CARD: HOU’s Giles Barnes shown a yellow for pulling back Scott Caldwell | WATCH THE PLAY
• 87’ – NE GOAL: Lee Nguyen scores his second after Darrius Barnes picked up Kofie Sarkodie’s clearance off the line and fed Nguyen for the low shot past Tyler Deric | WATCH THE GOAL

Final Score: New England Revolution 2, Houston Dynamo 1

Santander Man of the Match
LEE NGUYEN – Scored a pair of second-half goals to turn a 1-0 halftime deficit into a 2-1 Revolution win. He now has 17 goals on the season, including an MLS-best eight game-winning goals.

Next Game
The Revolution return to action on Saturday, October 25, when they host Toronto FC in the teams’ regular-season finale at Gillette Stadium.
Kickoff:
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: 1510AM WUFC
Tickets: Available at revolutionsoccer.net or through all Ticketmaster locations
Fan Appreciation Night

New England Revolution at Houston Dynamo
October 16, 2014 – BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, Texas)

New England Revolution 2, Houston Dynamo 1

Scoring Summary:
HOU – Giles Barnes 11 (Unassisted) 37’
NE – Lee Nguyen 16 (Kevin Alston 3, Jermaine Jones 4) 65’
NE – Lee Nguyen 17 (Darrius Barnes 2) 86’

Misconduct Summary:
HOU – Jermaine Taylor (Yellow Card) 47’
HOU – Luis Garrido (Yellow Card) 52’
HOU – Giles Barnes (Yellow Card) 73’

New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth; Andrew Farrell (Kevin Alston 50’), Jose Goncalves ©, A.J. Soares, Darrius Barnes; Daigo Kobayashi (Jermaine Jones 65’), Scott Caldwell; Steve Neumann, Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe; Patrick Mullins (Charlie Davies 58’).

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Andy Dorman, Tony Taylor, Diego Fagundez

STATS: Shots 20, Shots on target 5, Saves 2, Corner kicks 8, Offsides 2, Fouls 7, Possession 44.3%, Passes 312 (66.0%)

Houston Dynamo: Tyler Deric; Kofi Sarkodie, A.J. Cochran, David Horst, Jermaine Taylor; Andrew Driver (Oscar Garcia 65’), Ricardo Clark, Luis Garrido (Servando Carrasco 77’), Brad Davis ©; Giles Barnes, Omar Cummings (Will Bruin 80’).

Substitutes Not Used: Michael Lisch, Corey Ashe, Eric Brunner, Tony Cascio

STATS: Shots 12, Shots on target 3, Saves 3, Corner kicks 9, Offsides 3, Fouls 14, Possession 55.7%, Passes 378 (74.6%)

Referee: Ted Unkel
Assistant Referees: Jeff Muschik (AR1) and Paul Scott (AR2)
Fourth Official: Marcos de Oliveira

Weather: Sunny and 68 degrees
Attendance: 22,332

Team Records:
Houston Dynamo: 11-16-6, 39 pts.
New England Revolution: 16-13-4, 52 pts.

Additional Game Notes

• With the win, the Revs are now 16-13-4 on the season for 52 points … they are now three points clear of third place Sporting Kansas City, who host Philadelphia on Saturday.
• New England is now assured of finishing no lower than third place in the Eastern Conference, meaning that the club will avoid playing in the Knockout Round.
• This was New England’s final road game of the 2014 MLS regular season … the club finishes the year 6-9-2 away from Gillette Stadium, including 0-1-0 at BBVA Compass Stadium.
• The Revs finished the season with a 2-1-0 record against the Dynamo, having also won at Gillette Stadium on April 12.
• New England’s 52 points and 16 wins are the second-best in club history.
• Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made five changes to the team that drew 2-2 with Montreal on Saturday at Stade Saputo … Andrew Farrell, Darrius Barnes, Scott Caldwell, Steve Neumann and Patrick Mullins were all back in the starting XI, replacing Kevin Alston, Chris Tierney, Jermaine Jones, Teal Bunbury and Charlie Davies … Alston, Jones and Davies all began the game on the bench while Bunbury missed out with hamstring tightness while Tierney is dealing with a right ankle sprain.
• In addition to those Bunbury and Tierney, the Revs were also without Shalrie Joseph (left groin strain), Stephen McCarthy (left meniscus surgery) and Luis Soffner (right ankle sprain) because of injury.
• Jermaine Jones joined the squad in Houston on Wednesday after playing 90 minutes for the U.S. National Team against Honduras on Tuesday … the Dynamo’s Oscar Garcia and Luis Garrido also played in that game.
• Giles Barnes gave Houston a 1-0 lead with his 11th goal of the season … that was his first-ever goal against the Revs.
• After leading or being tied at the half of 11 straight games between July 30 and October 4, the Revs have now gone into the intermission behind in each of the last two games … however, they have taken four points from those games, going 1-0-1.
• Andrew Farrell was forced to exit the game early in the second half after suffering a right leg injury in a foul by Houston’s Jermaine Taylor … Taylor was booked on the play and Kevin Alston was forced to enter the game in place of Farrell.
• Patrick Mullins was making his first start since the 2-1 win over Chicago on September 7 … he came off in the 58th minute and was replaced by Charlie Davies, who also replaced Mullins in that game against the Fire.
• Jay Heaps made his third and final change in the 63rd minute, bringing on Jermaine Jones in place of Daigo Kobayashi.
• Lee Nguyen tied the score for New England just two minutes later with his 16th goal of the season … Kevin Alston and Jermaine Jones were credited with the assists on the goal.
• Kevin Alston now has a goal and an assist in three games against the Dynamo this season and just one assist in nine games against the rest of MLS … Alston has two assists in his last four games and a career-high three on the season.
• It was Jermaine Jones’ fourth assist of the season to go along with two goals … the Revs are now a perfect 6-0-0 when he scores or has an assist an 7-1-1 when he is in the lineup.
• Lee Nguyen would score the game-winning goal in the 87th minute, giving him 17 goals on the season … he is now tied with Seattle’s Obafemi Martins for fourth in MLS in scoring.
• No Americans and no midfielders have more goals than Lee Nguyen in MLS this season.
• This was his MLS-best eighth game-winning goal this season … he is just the third different player in MLS history to have eight or more game-winning goals in a single season …
• Lee Nguyen is now the fifth different player in Revolution history to record 10 or more game-winning goals for the club.
• His 17 goals this season are tied for the third-best single season goal tally in club history … only Taylor Twellman (23 in 2002) and Raul Diaz Arce (18 in 1998) have scored more for New England than Nguyen.
• Dating back to July 30, Nguyen has 11 goals and four assists in 13 games with the Revs going 9-2-2 in that time.
• New England is now 13-1-2 when Nguyen scores a goal or registers an assist.
• Darrius Barnes was credited with his second assist of the season on the goal … both assists have come on late game-winning goals … the first came on Teal Bunbury’s stoppage time winner against Sporting Kansas City on April 26.
• New England has now registered six game-winning goals in the final 15 minutes of games, including in two of the last three road matches.
• The Revs are now 15-0-1 when scoring two or more goals in a game and 1-13-3 when scoring one or less.
• Lee Nguyen was fouled four times in the game and has now been fouled 75 times this season … that is the third highest total in MLS this season … he is now tied with Alberto Naveda in 1997 for the most times a Revolution player has been fouled in a single season.
• Daigo Kobayashi started and played the opening 63 minutes in central midfield … he has now appeared in all 33 regular-season games that the Revs have played this year, starting 23.
• Steve Neumann made his third start of the season and first since August 2 against New York … this was just the second time this season that Neumann played the full 90 minutes in a regular-season game.
• New England’s two first round SuperDraft picks – Neumann and Patrick Mullins – started together for the first time this season.
• No Revolution players were booked in the game, meaning that all will be eligible for the club’s regular season finale against Toronto FC … any player that is not sent off in that game will also be available for the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.