Match Thoughts: New England Revolution vs Colorado Rapids

New England's Saer Sene scores against the Colorado Rapids.  (AP Photo)

Lest we forget, it is really hard to get points on the road in Major League Soccer.  The Colorado Rapids looked to be in pretty decent form heading out on their three game road swing after thumping Chivas USA 4-0 at home last weekend.  The New England Revolution were coming into the match at 2-5, so Colorado had to figure to be in a position to at least pick up a point.

The Revs came out of the blocks strong though, looking to defend their home turf in front of a sparse but noisy midweek crowd at Gillette Stadium.  They established possession early on and set about hemming Colorado in around their own 18 yard box.  Despite plenty of passes and decent crosses though, the Revs couldn't find a final ball, let alone trouble Matt Pickens in the early minutes.

After weathering the initial storm, the Rapids finally began to set up shop offensively in the second ten minutes.  The Revs were showing plenty of holes in their back line, and Colorado was keen to take advantage.  They managed to do just that in the 21st minute when Martin Rivero sent in a ball to Jamie Castrillion, who easily escaped the Revs defense and knocked the ball into the net to give the Rapids the 0-1 lead.  It was their first goal in the first 30 minutes of a match all season.

The Revs looked to respond though and managed to do so in fairly short order.  As it turns out, the Rapids defense proved to be just as porous as New England's.   In the 27th minute, the Revs caused all kinds of trouble for the Rapids on a corner kick, and the ball fell to Saer Sene, who volleyed the ball home from about eight yards to equalize at 1-1.

Things didn't get any better for the Rapids in the rest of the first half, as their offense shut down and the Revs pushed for the lead.  That lead finally came in the 39th minute when Sene played the ball to Fernando Cardenas just inside the penalty area.  Cardenas noticed Pickens off his line in goal and chipped it in.  Pickens back-tracked and got a hand to it, but tipped it down into his own net to make it 2-1 to New England heading into halftime.

The Rapids didn't go down easily in the second half, but all in all the Revs did a great job limiting their offensive chances. The best chance came in the 69th minute when Castrillion forced Matt Reis to perry over the bar after a nice feed from Jeff Larentowicz, but it would be about the last time the Rapids threatened in a choppy second half, and the Revs held on to a 2-1 win at home.

The Revolution made the Rapids pay dearly for their two defensive mistakes in the first half, but it must be mentioned that Colorado was without CB Marvell Wynne, who missed the match due to a hamstring strain.  Manager Oscar Pareja told MLSSoccer.com after the match that the coaches were frustrated with the defense and with yet another slow start.  Also, the finishing on offense was a far cry from what the Rapids pulled off against the Goats, but hopefully the return of Conor Casey will help the remedy that.

A final note: The win marks career win number 100 in MLS for Matt Reis, who for my money, is one of the league's real underrated 'keepers.