FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Lee Nguyen’s 65th-minute free kick and the circumstances surrounding it told the story of Saturday’s 0-0 draw between the New England Revolution and Columbus Crew SC.
The curling effort, which was comfortably saved by Crew SC goalkeeper Steve Clark, was the only shot on target in the second half and was likely the best chance for either side through the 90 minutes. It was one of only three shots on frame for New England, while Columbus failed to generate a shot on goal.
But it was the struggle Nguyen had just to keep the ball stationary on the ground as he teed up the free kick which provided some insight as to why both teams struggled so mightily to generate offense.
At one point Nguyen had the ball in position and was prepared to strike, only for the wind to blow the ball away and force the Revolution midfielder to chase it down and re-set.
“It didn’t make the game a lot of fun,” said Juan Agudelo, referencing the swirling winds which wreaked havoc on the proceedings at Gillette Stadium. “We weren’t able to keep the ball on the ground and the wind definitely played a big part.”
Revolution head coach Jay Heaps had wanted his side to bring high energy from the opening whistle of Saturday’s highly-anticipated playoff rematch, but they were stifled in part by the elements as they played with the wind directly in their faces for the opening 45 minutes.
It was for those 45 minutes that Jermaine Jones was on the field – making his abbreviated 2015 debut after recovering from sports hernia surgery – and he felt New England could’ve minimized the effects of the wind by keeping the ball on the ground.
“The first half I feel that we tried to hit the ball too much long and it played a little bit into Columbus’ hands and what they wanted,” Jones said. “The times when we kept the ball on the ground, you see that we created some chances.”
The Revs will certainly take solace in another solid defensive outing as they kept their third clean sheet in the past four games, a stretch in which they haven’t conceded a goal from the run of play.
But there will always be an element of disappointment when points are dropped at home, and the Revs are already looking forward to their return to Foxborough after next weekend’s trip to Philadelphia.
“I like that we got a shutout, but we wanted more from today leading up to it,” said Heaps. “But as the game went on you could tell we just weren’t firing on all cylinders. That’s disappointing.
“We want points at home, as much as we can, so we’re excited to get back here when we come back in a couple weeks.”
