New England Revolution Will Have To Overcome Columbus Crew SC Defensive Hot Streak With Columbus Riding Three Straight Clean Sheets Into Town
The New England Revolution will take on Columbus Crew SC this Saturday in Gillette Stadium just weeks after they faced Columbus on the road.
In that road matchup the Revs were able to come away with a draw, a result they were content with given their opponent and environment.
“Columbus is very, very good. And you’re going to have to take chances and risks going forward and try and score on them and you got some outstanding players going for them. Greg’s done a tremendous job here. We are just starting out with our staff, but we are going to try and win every game. So today, 2-2 and I am happy about that with going behind twice.” Said Revs Head Coach Brad Friedel following the April 21st match.
Forward Juan Agudelo at the time also thought the result was a character building night with him saying:“It shows a lot of character. A lot of positive things, understanding that we have the ability to come back against any team, and we showed that today.”
But since these two teams played each other the Revs have played 3 matches with a 2-1 record while the Crew have played 4 matches with a 3-0-1 record. Columbus has shot up the Eastern Conference standings with a 6-3-3 record putting them in second place right behind Atlanta United who are 8-1-2.
For New England, they have stayed right around the same place in the standings with their record of 5-2-3 putting them in 6th place in the East.
Part of Columbus success has been in part to their ability to keep their opponents out of the back of the net. The Crew have gotten three straight clean sheet performances which came in an 8-day span. The reason behind it according to Columbus’s Head Coach Gregg Berhalter is: “I think that the group has gotten to a place where they understand defending is about 11 guys, and that’s the most important thing,” Berhalter said after the win. “It’s not about the back four and the goalkeeper. It’s not about the midfielders added in. It’s all 11 players. When we defend as a group, we do a great job, and we make it very difficult for the opponent.”.
The Revs will certainly have their hands full with a Columbus team that has seen improvements in less than a months time. Let’s see how the Revs prepare to adjust to these improvements.
