Well, that was a little better. United started the game in a 4-4-2 formation with Gros, Boswell, Erpen, and Namoff on the back line. Fred, Olsen, Gomez, and Simms manned the midfield and Emilio was joined by a newcomer, Nicholas Adderly, up front. The first half had United with the better of play. Fred was very dangerous on the right wing and with darting diagonal runs to the box. Emilio, Gomez, and Fred played well together to keep the Revolution back line on their toes. United's defense was well organized and other than one Erpen bad pass, played well. That all changed in the first minute of the second half. Namoff played a bad ball which was intercepted and forced Erpen to go out wide and cover for him. Instead of putting the ball out of bounds and allowing the defense to reset itself, Erpen played a high ball to the center of the field which landed at the feet of the Revolution and they moved forward with purpose. Ten seconds later, the Revs were on the board and another give away in the back resulted in numbers for the opponent.
United responded a few minutes later with a long ball to Moreno, who replaced Adderly at the half, on the right side of the box. Reis and Reiley converged on Moreno and Reis would have had the ball easily. However, Reiley shouldered Moreno aside and Jamie ended up on the ground. Penalty! Jamie converted the penalty and all was even again. Shalrie Joseph was ejected on a late challenge which was too far away for me to judge. Fred went down in the 79th minute and was replaced by another newcomer, Guy Kpene. There were three hand balls in the box which were not called during the last 30 minutes, two by the Revolution and one by Carroll the Elder. United attacked with a flurry of shots including one of the crossbar, a spectacular save by Reis, and a cowardly no call in the box by the ref on a ball played by the arm of a Revs defender in extra time. Alas, the go-ahead-goal was not to be. All in all, a better effort, but three points were there to be had on this night.
The Good:
- The new players shined tonight. Emilio, Fred, and Kpene were particularly dangerous.
- Eighty-nine good minutes of defense.
- Gros was invisible for most of the game. Maybe his defensive responsibilities were the cause, but you could be forgiven if you didn't remember he even played.
- One minute of bad defense.
- Unable to take advantage of more than 20 minutes of the man advantage.
Forwards (Adderly, Emilio) B-
Emilio was dangerous for good stretches of the game, but Adderly was largely invisible.
Midfielders (Olsen, Fred, Gomez, Simms) B+
Olsen played very well for a large part of the game, but seemed to tire towards the end. He took three shots from distance in the second half, probably two more than he should. Fred and Gomez were very effective in the the middle 30 minutes especially. Did Simms actually play? I can't remember a single sequence he was involved in other than running off the field to be replaced by Brian Carroll.
Defense (Boswell, Erpen, Namoff, Gros, Perkins) C+
Boswell and Perkins played very efficiently. Erpen and Namoff both made mistakes leading to the only goal.
Subs (Moreno, Carroll the Elder, Kpene) B
Moreno drew the penalty and was very effective throughout the second half. Might he be most effective as a second half replacement? Something to consider. Carroll the Elder did nothing to warrant his regaining his starting spot. Who should it go to? Kpene was great. Admittedly he played only for about 15 minutes, but I really liked his style and skill.
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