With virtually the last kick of the game, Darrius Barnes met a Ryan Guy cross in the 95th minute to give the New England Revolution a 1-1 draw at home with the New York Red Bulls.
The Red Bulls appeared to have the win all wrapped up when Joel Lindpere put them ahead in added time, but the Revs should a good fighting spirit to come back and get an equalizer in front of a season-high crowd of 24,364.
With the tie, the Red Bulls still have not won in New England since 2002!
This is the second time I have seen the Red Bulls live this season and while they have won both games I have not been impressed by them. For a playoff bound team, the Red Bulls seem devoid of imagination in midfield and their defense is not good enough to win the MLS Cup. Without Thierry Henry
As for the Revolution, for the first 25-30 minutes they were really good. They dominated possession, played the ball short and should have had a goal after only four minutes, but the linesman wrongly ruled Bengtson offside. Terrible decision.
But after the 30 minute mark, the Revs seemed to run out of ideas and began to get frustrated at not being ahead. The fluid passing and movement stopped, and the Red Bulls came more into the game.
Overall, this was an improved performance over what we have seen from the Revs in recent weeks. Gone was the long hopeful ball for the forwards to chase, and instead we saw a return of the short passing game that New England used so effectively in the first six games of the season.
New England was officially eliminated from the playoffs last week and now Jay Heaps can start planning for next season. One decision he has to make is what is his best midfield combination? Tonight he started Rowe, Guy, Simms and Nguyen while Juan Toja and Feilhaber both came on as second half substitutes. Looking ahead to next season, I can see Toja breaking into that starting line-up but I wonder about Benny, who has really disappointed this season. I would not be surprised to see the Revs trade him this off-season for another striker.
What did you think of the Revs performance tonight?
