Foxborough, MA (Sports Network) - The New England Revolution brought an end to
its 10-game winless streak on Wednesday, toppling a sluggish Columbus Crew
squad, 2-0, at Gillette Stadium.
Dimitry Imbongo broke a scoreless deadlock in the 53rd minute for the Revs,
while the Crew struggled to find their footing all night and helped out the
home side with Chad Marshall's own goal in the 74th minute.
Columbus was one of the hottest teams in MLS prior to the match having won its
last four games to jump into the thick of the playoff picture in the Eastern
Conference.
But the Crew didn't really manage to trouble New England goalkeeper Matt Reis,
and the Revs were finally able to beat Columbus netminder Andy Gruenebaum
shortly after halftime.
Diego Fagundez drove into the penalty area on the right and had his shot come
back off the post, leaving Imbongo to knock the ball into the empty net on the
rebound.
The Revs almost had a second goal on the hour mark when Stephen McCarthy
scored on a header, only to have the goal wiped out by a close offside call.
However, the lead was doubled with just over 15 minutes to play when
substitute Chris Tierney flicked a long ball from the back toward the Crew
box, causing confusion between Gruenebaum and Marshall, who nodded the ball
over the head of the onrushing goalkeeper and into his own net.
Columbus nearly spoiled the clean sheet for Reis in the final five minutes,
but he was able to deflect a close-range shot from Eddie Gaven off the
crossbar.
GAME NOTES:
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