What started out as a big week for the New England Revolution, ended with a whimper on Saturday night in a 3-0 defeat at Montreal.
After defeating Toronto FC on Sunday and New York Red Bulls on Wednesday, the Revs entered Saturday’s tilt with the Impact as the hottest team in the league and the top club in the Eastern Conference.
That all ground to a halt on the soggy pitch of Stade Saputo as New England was unable to do much with their ample possession in the final third, getting stung the other way because of it.
“Things are going to go your way, and they’re not going to go your way,” coach Jay Heaps said after the match. “The first half wasn’t our best in terms of the cleanest, but I thought we weren’t crisp enough in the final third. When we got down there, we were a little conservative.”
On the other end of the field the Revs had issues in closing down a fast-moving Montreal attack, which received a kind deflection off of a Johan Venegas shot that cleared the reach of Bobby Shuttleworth in the fifth minute.
The second Montreal goal, in the 60th minute, again came off of a deflection, this time via the foot of Didier Drogba who had drawn a foul to set up a free kick outside the box.
“I was a little disappointed in the second goal because I didn’t totally think that it was a foul, then we didn’t defend it that well,” said Heaps. “That obviously turned the game around. I can’t sit here and tell you that we deserved anything from the game. I thought, in the end, Montreal was better than us.”
“It was a tough one,” said defender Jeremy Hall. “The first [goal] kind of hurt us a little bit. We still had the ball, but we kind of fell out of a rhythm a little bit. The second was a deflection as well and then we’re chasing and chasing. Just one of those games that’s frustrating.”
The rare nine point week was not to be for the Revolution, who saw in the process their six-game-win streak and eight-game-unbeaten streak fall by the wayside.
Thought a six point week is certainly a big haul, the club was not ready to put a crown on a successful week following Saturday’s performance.
“Tonight is disappointing,” said Heaps. “I’m not at the point of looking at the whole week right now. I’m looking at tonight. I don’t think we put ourselves in the best position to win.”
