COLUMBUS, Ohio – The signs have been there since preseason.
First, they erased a two-goal deficit in a 4-3 win over the New York Red Bulls. Then they battled back for a pair of draws against FC Cincinnati and FC Dallas despite falling behind on three separate occasions. Head coach Brad Friedel consistently praised his side’s mentality and resiliency.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the New England Revolution have continued to show that fighting spirit in the regular season, highlighted by Saturday night’s 2-2 draw with Columbus Crew SC in which the Revs trailed twice but responded immediately both times.
“It’s huge. It’s very, very huge,” center back Jalil Anibaba said of the Revolution’s never-say-die approach. “Especially on the road; it’s not easy to do on the road in this league. It’s very, very hard to go away from home and get points, but in a fashion in which we did it tonight, I think it shows even more about our character and our ability to score goals with our backs up against the wall.”
It wasn’t just that the Revolution responded to both Crew SC goals at MAPFRE Stadium, it was how quickly and ruthlessly they put the hosts back on their heels.
It took just five minutes for Teal Bunbury to answer Columbus’ opener – an unfortunate Andrew Farrell own goal – and just three for Cristian Penilla to hit back after Gyasi Zardes gave Crew SC a 2-1 lead.
Penilla’s goal in particular was massive in its impact, as Zardes had given the hosts the lead on the stroke of halftime (43rd minute) only for the Revs to pull level once again before the break.
“The one just before halftime was a great time, because we had conceded probably at the worst time, also, basically right at the whistle,” said Friedel. “It was good. It showed a lot of character and really from our first game against the New York Red Bulls, we’ve shown resilience.
“All the players (also) show it in training all the time. No one ever wants to lose a game. The boys do have that in abundance, that’s character.”
New England had enough character to take a point home from Columbus for the first time since the 2013 regular season, and they so nearly took home all three as both teams had several chances to win the match in a frantic second half.
The Revs will have to be satisfied with their second consecutive road result, however, as they move to 3-1-2 in their last six matches.
“It’s good to at least take something home,” said Anibaba, who Friedel called “tremendous” on the night. “To be honest, we could’ve won it at the end. But I thought everybody put everything they had into the game, on both sides of the ball. Everybody did what was asked of them.
“It was a good performance by everybody.”
