New England Beats Crew In Front Of Large Crowd In Chattanooga

Despite the cold and dreary weather, a large, boisterous crowd came out to Finley Stadium in Chattanooga to see the New England Revolution defeat the Columbus Crew 2:1 on Sunday afternoon. 

New England speedster and first goalscorer Sainey Nyassi (17) waits for a pass.

Despite dominating possession and having the better opportunities in the first half, Columbus found themselves down 1:0 at halftime.  With his speed out on the right flank, midfielder Sainey Nyassi had been the only real danger that the Revs could muster in the opening half, and it was Nyassi who would capitalize to put the Revs ahead as the first forty-five neared the end.  A corner kick was poorly cleared by the Crew and fell to Nyassi who whipped in a shot from just outside the area that found its way through the thick of it and into the back of the net.

Rev Marko Perovic serves in the corner that led to the first goal.

Wholesale halftime changes led to a little less dominance from Columbus in terms of ball possession, but the result was nearly identical in the second half.  The Crew mounted pressure on the New England goal, only to concede a goal from a corner.  This time veteran defender Ryan Cochran rose in the 81st minute to nod a hard shot toward goal, but substitute goaltender Alex Riggs was able to get down and parry it away from the line.  Revs midfielder Zack Schilawski corralled the rebound and roofed an eight yard shot for the 2:0 lead.  

The Crew snatched a late consolation goal as Tom Heinemann rounded Bobby Shuttleworth in goal for New England in the 89th minute.

New England v Columbus in Chattanooga from Ryan Harbaugh on Vimeo.

Crew assistant coach Mike Lapper summed up the match, "We played well, but this league comes down to winning individual battles and set pieces.  If you can't defend set pieces, you're not going to win. We played well in the first half, and we were all over them. But scoring is the only thing that matters."