BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – The New England Revolution lost 3-1 to the Chicago Fire on Saturday night at Toyota Park, missing a chance to clinch a berth in the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs for the third straight weekend. Juan Agudelo gave the Revs a 1-0 halftime advantage, but the Fire scored three times in the second half to seal the win and extend New England’s winless streak to three games.
While the Revolution controlled possession for much of the opening 30 minutes, it was Bobby Shuttleworth that was the more active of the two goalkeepers early on. He was forced to dive to his left in the 21st minute to palm away a David Accam shot while Gilberto saw a shot saved in the 29th minute before hitting the post less than a minute later.
However, it would be New England that broke the deadlock when Agudelo scored his seventh goal of the season in the 31st minute. Diego Fagundez sprayed the ball out to Chris Tierney on the left flank and his cross found the run of Agudelo, who deftly headed the ball past Chicago goalkeeper Jon Busch and into the corner of the net, giving the Revs a 1-0 advantage.
Chicago equalized early in the second half when Harry Shipp pounced on a New England turnover near midfield and played the ball forward for Accam who ran at the New England defense and hit a low shot that beat Shuttleworth at his near post, tying the score at 1-1.
The Fire would go in front eight minutes later when Lovel Palmer hit a long ball from inside his own half and Andrew Farrell slipped when trying to clear it, allowing Shipp to go in alone on goal and beat Shuttleworth, making the score 2-1 in favor of Chicago.
Agudelo and Kelyn Rowe combined for three chances in a three minute stretch between the 65th and 67th minutes, only to be denied from close range by Busch each time. At the other end of the field, Gilberto was played in behind the Revolution defense in the 69th minute, but his angled shot from the right struck the post, keeping the Fire lead at 2-1.
Chicago killed the game off in the 86th minute when Gilberto, who had twice hit the post, latched onto a ball at the corner of the six-yard box and hooked into inside the far post to make the score 3-1 in send the Revs to a second defeat in their last three games.
Revolution Santander Man of the Match
JUAN AGUDELO – Scored the Revs only goal – his seventh of the season – and led the club with three shots on target.
Next Game
The Revolution will be back in action on Saturday, October 17 when they host the Montreal Impact in the regular-season home finale at Gillette Stadium. That game, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET, will be shown locally on Comcast SportsNet and is available nationally on MLS LIVE. It will also be available locally on the radio, in English on 98.5 The Sports Hub and on WMVX 1570 AM Nossa Radio USA in Portuguese.
New England Revolution at Chicago Fire
October 3, 2015 – Toyota Park (Bridgeview, Ill.)
New England Revolution 1, Chicago Fire 3
Scoring Summary:
NE – Juan Agudelo 7 (Chris Tierney 5) 31’
CHI – David Accam 10 (Harry Shipp 8) 51’
CHI – Harry Shipp 3 (Lovel Palmer 1) 59’
CHI – Gilberto 4 (Matt Watson 1) 86’
Misconduct Summary:
CHI – David Accam (Yellow Card) 43’
CHI – Jeff Larentowicz (Yellow Card) 62’
CHI – Harry Shipp (Yellow Card) 65’
CHI – Michael Stephens (Yellow Card) 89’
NE – Teal Bunbury (Yellow Card) 89’
NE – Jermaine Jones (Yellow Card) 95+
New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth; Kevin Alston, Andrew Farrell, Jose Goncalves, Chris Tierney (Charlie Davies 84’); Scott Caldwell (Daigo Kobayashi 74’), Jermaine Jones ©; Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen, Diego Fagundez (Teal Bunbury 59’); Juan Agudelo.
Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, London Woodberry, Jeremy Hall, Steve Neumann.
STATS: Shots 12, Shots on target 5, Saves 5, Corner kicks 4, Offsides 4, Fouls 14, Possession 48.1%, Passes 388 (74.0%)
Chicago Fire: Jon Busch; Lovel Palmer, Jeff Larentowicz ©, Daneil Cyrus, Joevin Jones; Patrick Nyarko, Michael Stephens, Razvan Cocis (Matt Watson 81’), David Accam; Harry Shipp (Patrick Doody 72’), Gilberto.
Substitutes Not Used: Alec Kann, Kingsley Bryce, Chris Ritter, Kennedy Igbonanike, Mike Magee.
STATS: Shots 15, Shots on target 8, Saves 4, Corner kicks 6, Offsides 1, Fouls 15, Possession 51.9%, Passes 421 (76.5%)
Referee: Kevin Stott
Assistant Referees: Brian Poeschel and Andrew Bigelow
Fourth Official: Tyler Ploeger
Weather: Cloudy and 50 degrees
Attendance: 16,694
Team Records:
New England Revolution: 13-11-8, 47 pts.
Chicago Fire: 8-18-6, 30 pts.
Additional Game Notes
- With the loss, the Revolution are now 13-11-8 for 47 points on the season. They are now tied with Columbus Crew SC for third place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind D. C. United for second place and one point ahead of fifth place Toronto FC.
- The Revs have had a chance to clinch a postseason berth in each of the last three games but have failed to get the result that was necessary.
- After winning six straight games between Aug. 1 and Sept. 16, the Revs are now winless in their last three games, going 0-2-1 in that time while being outscored 7-2.
- New England finishes the season series against Chicago with a 1-1-1 record, with each team scoring five goals in the three games.
- Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made two changes to the team that drew 1-1 at home with the Philadelphia Union last weekend. Kevin Alston and Juan Agudelo each returned to the lineup in place of Jeremy Hall and Charlie Davies, who began the game on the bench.
- Juan Agudelo gave the Revs a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute with his seventh goal of the season.
- The Revs have now scored first in nine of their last 10 games dating back to July 18.
- Agudelo’s seven goals equal his personal season-high with a single club, matching the seven that he scored with the Revs in 2013. That year he finished the season with nine regular-season goals, having also scored two while with Chivas USA.
- Three of Agudelo’s seven goals have come on the road this season, tying him with Charlie Davies, Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe for the team lead in road goals. Those four combined have scored 12 of the club’s 18 goals away from home this season.
- Chris Tierney was credited with the assist on the goal, giving him five on the season, equaling his career-high.
- Tierney has registered five assists in each of the last four seasons and now has 31 for his career. Only three players have more assists in Revolution history than Tierney.
- David Accam and Gilberto each scored for the Fire, becoming the 14th and 15th Designated Players to score against New England this season.
- Bobby Shuttleworth finished the game with five saves. That was his most saves in a game since making six in a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC on May 16.
- The eight shots on goal for the Fire were the most allowed by New England since the New York Red Bulls had eight shots on goal in a 4-1 win over New England on July 11.
- Teal Bunbury was shown a yellow card in the 89th minute meaning that he will now be suspended for the Revs’ next game, against Montreal on Oct. 17 at Gillette Stadium.
- Juan Agudelo was not booked in the game, meaning that he has had one card expunged from his record and he is no longer on warning for yellow-card accumulation.
- The Revs have conceded three goals in each of their last two road games and have done so six times in 14 games away from Gillette Stadium this season.
- The loss snapped New England’s 10 game unbeaten streak in the month of October dating back to the 2012 season.