The Revolution defeated Houston 2-0 at Gillette Stadium. Photo/Kari Heistad
FOXBORO, Mass. – The New England Revolution went for the two for one special on Saturday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, collecting both their second victory and first clean sheet of the season by beating the Houston Dynamo 2-0.
The Revolution struggled to produce much offense to start but had a strong second half behind goals from Kei Kamara (52nd) and Juan Agudelo (73rd).
Cody Cropper, earning his fifth consecutive start in net, concluded the match with just two saves, a statistic that very much doesn’t tell the full story. Cropper was spot on with his positioning and communication with the Revolution back line, which successfully quelled Houston striker Erick “Cubo” Torres, who entered the game with five goals this season, the most in Major League Soccer.
“[Torres] is one of the best strikers here in the league, I like the way he moves,” said Revolution defender Antonio Mlinar Delamea. “Like I say, he’s a good striker, but the whole team, we defended very well today. We didn’t allow many chances.”
The Revolution aligned in a 4-4-2 diamond, rookie center back Josh Smith earning his second consecutive start ahead of veteran Benjamin Angoua. Kelyn Rowe slotted in at left back for Chris Tierney. Xavier Kouassi made his Gillette Stadium debut in central midfield, while Diego Fagundez started off on the left and became the first homegrown MLS player to log 10,000 minutes of play early in the first half.
Neither side looked particularly dangerous in the first half, though, technically, the Dynamo produced four shots to the Revolution’s two. But the Revolution came out reinvigorated in the second half, wasting almost no time asserting their dominance on the visitors.
Lee Nguyen helped create Kamara’s goal. He sent a pass in behind the Houston back line for Kamara, who fired right at goalkeeper Tyler Deric; Deric made the save but gave up a fat rebound, Kamara pouncing and slotting the ball into the back of the net easily.
“Timing of his runs, he continues to be dangerous,” said Heaps of Kamara’s strike. “That’s something we really worked on this week, making sure we timed the runs right.
“It was great he stayed with it…I turned away after the first save, next thing I know they said ‘he’s still got it’ and he scored.”
Cropper helped the Revolution maintain their momentum immediately after the goal. In the 62nd minute, he took the ball off the heels of Torres, who had entered the box alone off a looping pass by Ricardo Clark. Next, he dipped to his right to parry away a shot by Clark at the near post following a corner kick in the 64th.
New England re-established their attacking pressure and went about trying to create second tally. In the 73rd minute, Nguyen found Juan Agudelo unmarked off a throw-in, Agudelo running to the edge of the area and laying the ball off to Rowe. Next, Rowe sent a driven cross into the box that Deric punched away, though Agudelo followed up on the rebound and easily poked the ball into the net for his third goal of the season.
“You always have more to give,” said Agudelo, who leads the Revolution in goals scored. “I’m very fortunate that our teammates can put me in good position to score goals. I’ve had zero shots I think in three away games I think, so I need to improve that. Butluckily in home games I’m getting shots. You can’t’ score goals without taking shots.
The Revolution will take a three-game unbeaten run to their next game, which is next game is next Saturday at Chicago.
If you want to reach Julian follow him on Twitter @juliancardillo and email julianccardillo@gmail.com
