Femi Hollinger-Janzen appears to score the equalizer against Portland. Photo/Kari Heistad
Call it karma, or officiating, or simply the whim of the so-called soccer gods, but luck has seemed to be against the New England Revolution more often than not so far this season.
The tide shifted slightly on Wednesday night against the Portland Timbers as the Revolution got a critical late equalizer in the dying minutes to rescue a 1-1 tie.
In the waning moments of the match, the Timbers shifted into a defensive shell and packed their players into their own penalty area, moving past midfield only to counter-attack.
Kelyn Rowe managed to find a seam in the 89th minute, his whipping cross to the back post connecting with Je-Vaughn Watson, who advanced from right back to square the ball into the heart of the box, where it somehow deflected off the knee of Portland defender Jermaine Taylor and snuck into the net.
The midweek crowd of 10,144 eruputed and rookie striker Femi Hollinger-Janzen, who was in the thick of the area and was mistakenly awarded the goal, held back a smile as his side defended their equalizer.
But all of that hoopla equals a grand total of one point. But, the Revolution are still unbeaten at home and have a tiny sliver of momentum as they head into their next four games, three of which are in Foxborough.
That said, the defending MLS Cup champions came into Gillette Stadium looking to stifle a Revolution side that had just come off a disappointing, 3-0 loss to DC United last Saturday afternoon and was without left back Chris Tierney, arguably the best crosser in the league.
And while the hosts mostly outplayed Portland by winning the possession battle and out-shooting them 16-8, the visitors were able to jump ahead on a wild goal involving substitute Jack Barmby side-volleying a cross by Darlington Nagbe off the turf, the ball bouncing slowly past an off-balance Bobby Shuttleworth.
Revolution coach Jay Heaps had a number of tactical decisions to make as he confronted the Timbers.
He used third-year professional Donnie Smith, who came into the league as a midfielder and had never started a match at Gillette Stadium, in place of Tierney. When Charlie Davies went down with an undisclosed injury midway through the first half, he tapped Juan Agudelo.
The most pivotal switch, however, was bringing on Hollinger-Janzen, who introduced a fresh tempo to the midfield and helped out on the tying goal after coming on for Daigo Kobayashi in the 70th minute.
For weeks, the Revolution – including Heaps – have been outspoken about their dissatisfaction with officiating decisions and have struggled to take matters into their own hands while on the pitch.
With a 1-6-2 record, the Revolution indeed have plenty more to contemplate.
But Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw, and all the resolve that came with it, was a rare instance in this still-young season in which the Revolution made their own luck.
If you want to reach Julian email him at julianccardillo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @juliancardillo
New England Revolution
Portland
