COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – The New England Revolution’s 2-0 defeat of the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night saw both teams continue the streaks they carried into the weekend. The Revs extended their winning streak to two in a row following last week’s win over San Jose, while the Rapids’ winless streak was extended to 18 games, matching a league record previously set by Real Salt Lake in 2004-05.
Heaping more pressure on the Rapids is the fact that they are still scoreless on the season, and dating back to last year, have now gone 600 minutes without a goal.
A week after delivering a MLS Player of the Week performance in New England’s 2-1 win over the Earthquakes, midfielder Kelyn Rowe continued to create offensive opportunities for the Revs — playing creator to Juan Agudelo’s superb opening goal in the 19th minute.
After muscling a Rapids midfielder off the ball at midfield, he immediately got his head up to ping a cross-field diagonal ball to Agudelo, who had slid between Rapids defenders Bobby Burling and Michael Harrington. Agudelo’s control with his first touch was perfect and his second touch was a chip over Rapids goalkeeper Clint Irwin that deflected off the underside of the crossbar.
Colorado continued its trend of creating chances without scoring, outshooting the Revs 17 to nine on the night, while hitting the woodwork three times.
Midfielder Dillon Powers created Colorado’s best chance of the first half in the 42nd minute, when he broke free of the Revs defense after a through ball by young Defensive Player Juan Ramirez. But his shot was parried away by New England goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.
Chances continued to come and go for the Rapids throughout the game — most notably when Gabriel Torres headed over the bar from close range, and again when a Marcelo Sarvas header was saved by Shuttleworth.
The Revolution took command of the game in the 54th minute when Charlie Davies was pulled down in the box by Rapids center-back Jared Watts, and Lee Nguyen slotted the ensuing penalty past Irwin.
The decisive moment of the match came minutes later when, after a Dominique Badji shot off the post, it appeared that Ramirez may have been felled in the box. But no penalty was awarded, as referee Fotis Bazakos instead called Torres for offside.
Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni was ejected from the game after arguing the call.
With the lead, New England was able to shift its focus defensively, maintaining the clean sheet despite the Rapids' 58% possession and consistent pressure.
Colorado will once again be looking for their first win of the season next Friday when they take to the road to face FC Dallas while New England returns home to Gillette Stadium to face Columbus on Saturday.
