FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Revolution and LA Galaxy clashed in ugly weather conditions, but that didn’t stop the first-half of play from showing two of Major League Soccer’s best teams brandishing numerous quality attacks.
Four goals in total were netted in the first 45 minutes, as New England nabbed the first on Teal Bunbury’s close-range effort in the fifth minute, followed by a surge from the LA Galaxy that included scores from two young guns--forward Gyasi Zardes and Ignacio Magnato.
Then, the Revs own youngster, 20-year-old Diego Fagundez, put the two sides on equal terms with his sharp free-kick conversion.
All of this happened in what felt like rapid succession, and the remainder of this 2014 MLS Cup rematch wouldn’t display such frantic maneuvering.
[RELATED: Revolution-Galaxy recap]
Unfortunately for the Revolution, they couldn’t keep pushing for the final goal, and the sudden lack of forwardness antagonized head coach Jay Heaps.
He was not happy with the sedate cadence of the match, which, Heaps believes, the officials facilitated.
“I thought our urgency was – should have been better in the second half and we created a lot of chances, but I thought that the referee wasn’t letting us play the game,” he said. “It really felt like there was a lot of delays in the game and unfortunately our tempo needs to be played quickly.
“I’m disappointed as you can tell because I thought our game plan was really good and we came out an executed for the first 12 minutes of that game, and if we continued to do that for another 30 or 40 minutes, you’d see a big smile on my face right now. But we didn’t and that’s why I’m so frustrated right now.”
Galaxy manger Bruce Area uttered a somewhat divergent sentiment, glad to have another positive end product, one without reigning MLS MVP Robbie Keane.
“This game tonight was hectic, crazy, out of control, not an easy game,” he admitted.
“I give our guys credit. Going down a goal in the early minutes and being able to get a point out of it against a good team, it’s a good result, a good week for us with two wins and a draw.”
The Revolution will travel to Portland to experience the Timbers on Saturday. Arena’s side return home to duel the Vancouver Whitecaps that same day.
