Ugo Ihemelu of FC Dallas scored the winner in stoppage time. (Getty Images)
Well this wasn't the most scintillating soccer game you could ask for, but watching MLS is never a bad way to spend a quiet Thursday evening and viewers were treated to a surprise finish. Coming into the match, the two squads seemed to be heading in different directions. Dallas got drilled 4-1 at DC last week and the New England Revolution were coming off of back to back wins for the first time since 2009. Their last game was a 3-1 thumping of the Galaxy in LA.
One could tell right off the bat that there wasn't going to be 4 or 5 goals score in this one. You'd like to think it was going to come down to a defensive battle, but the word of the day wasn't defense, it was "sloppy." Neither team seemed to be willing to take any risks, and the simple possession passing wasn't really precise for either side either. There wasn't even a quality chance until the 20th minute, when FC Dallas nearly took the lead. Blas Perez worked himself into space in the New England area and shot toward the far post. Revs 'keeper Matt Reis made himself just big enough to ruin the angle and force Perez to send it just wide. Brek Shea would force a save out of Reis on 34 minutes, but that was about all of the offensive action for either side in the first half.
The second half was a little different story as New England came out with a lot more energy, and tried to hem the Hoops in against their own goal. However, despite some good possession, the best they could really manage was a shot by Saer Sene in the 57th minute that was fairly easily tracked down by Kevin Hartman. Lee Nguyen sent a rocket toward the goal in the 67th minute, and it caught Dallas defender George John square in the face. He was down for a couple of minutes, but eventually walked off and looked ok. He did not return to the match though. Ricardo Villar also left this one early with an injury for the Hoops after a rough tackle from Shalrie Joseph in the 63rd. Joseph received a yellow card for the play.
The game went into stoppage time and it looked like both teams were going to settle for a 0-0 draw, but then the Revs messed up. On what was surely the last attack of the match, A.J. Soares fouled Blas Perez right outside the Revs' 18. Zach Lloyd sent the ensuing free kick into the six, where it found the head of Dallas's Ugo Ihemelu. The center back calmly headed the ball past Reis into the back of the net for the game winning goal, handing Dallas 3 points by virtue of the 1-0 victory.
It might be tempting to speculate that the Revs were a little hard done by. Certainly they were better than Dallas for long stretches in the second half, but their demise was of their own making. Prior to the last foul on Perez, the Revs could have played the ball into touch, but didn't, allowing the Dallas attack. The foul by Soares was just foolish, especially since he had a pretty good match up until that point. Plus, allowing Ihemelu into the six virtually unmarked on a play like that is just asking for trouble. I'd also say the Revs need to do some work up top. Sene seemed to be surprised by the physicality of Dallas from time to time, and even the Revs commentators mentioned that his work rate was fairly poor, just wanting the ball played into him where he stood. For the most part Dallas handled him very easily.
For the Hoops it's a big three points that might help them get on track. They were riddled with injuries and suspensions coming into this one, and Brek Shea isn't on form yet, but they have to feel better after this. We'll see how they hold up over the course of the season.
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