BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – For 45 minutes on Saturday night, everything went according to plan for the New England Revolution.
Bobby Shuttleworth made a pair of key saves in big spots before Juan Agudelo’s seventh goal of the season gave the Revs a halftime lead on a night they could’ve clinched a playoff berth with a win or draw. They looked well on their way to such a result as the first half came to a close.
But the tide turned after the break. David Accam and Harry Shipp scored eight minutes apart to swing the pendulum, while Gilberto capped the scoring late on as the Chicago Fire claimed a 3-1 win, preventing the Revolution from securing their postseason spot for a third straight weekend.
“It was a tale of two halves,” said Revs head coach Jay Heaps. “We came in with the right mentality and it was a very good (first) half.
“Then the second half we just absolutely lost our way. We did not play well. We gave them chances and they took advantage. Credit them for taking advantage.”
Heaps pointed to the Fire’s first two goals – turning the Revs’ 1-0 lead into a 2-1 deficit – as particularly frustrating with regards to the manner in which they were conceded.
“They’re going to try to create things off our mistakes,” Heaps said. “The key is not to give them anything, and we did.
“Credit them. I don’t want to sit here and say that we handed them (goals). They did well to finish them, but we were assisting their opportunities.”
New England had one big opportunity of their own in the 66th minute – a chance that would’ve drawn them level at 2-2 – when Kelyn Rowe squared for Agudelo inside the box. With the ball bobbling, Agudelo was careful to steer his effort on target, but Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch made a sprawling save.
“It’s a chance that I should’ve taken. I take full responsibility,” Agudelo said. “If I would’ve hit it anywhere else but there; Busch was already on the ground. Unfortunately I let my team down in that aspect.”
Saturday night’s result – coupled with Orlando City SC’s 2-1 win over the Montreal Impact – means the Revs will now head into their third and final bye week of the season still waiting to punch their ticket to the playoffs.
That means the Revs will have two weeks to regroup and prepare for their regular-season home finale – set for October 17 against the playoff-chasing Impact – when they’ll have a fourth chance to lock up a postseason berth.
“We made key mistakes that cost us goals (tonight),” said Chris Tierney, who assisted on Agudelo’s goal with a left-wing cross. “It’s all of us. We’re not pointing fingers.
“We’ll all look in the mirror and take this loss like men together, and we’ll look to win at home in two weeks.”