Revolution slip up in SuperLiga tie
FOXBOROUGH - “I should go to Vegas.’’
That was the only thing Herculez Gomez could offer.
The Kansas City Wizards midfielder had the ball in the box in the 85th minute, had time to cue his cross through two defenders, but slipped.
Any other time, Revolution defenseman Darrius Barnes would have knocked the cross well over the crossbar and out of bounds.
But on the wet ground, it bounced high, off his shin instead of his foot, deflecting past goaltender Matt Reis for an own goal.
Gomez is thinking about going to Vegas tonight, after his Wizards left Gillette Stadium with a 1-1 tie against the Revolution in SuperLiga play last night.
New England coach Steve Nicol is wondering when he signed up to gamble the SuperLiga away.
“It’s not right,’’ said Nicol. “We defended from front to back the whole game. We played fantastic. It’s the wrong goal to lose.’’
The Revolution allowed two other shots on goal the entire game, completely stymieing a lethargic Wizard offense.
The goal in the 85th minute - officially ruled an own goal on Barnes - was one of two chances in the box the whole night for the Wizards. And it wasn’t even ruled a Kansas City shot.
“I don’t remember when they should have had another chance the rest of the game,’’ said Nicol. “And that says a lot. We were real smart in the second half, and we got our game taken away by the fourth official.’’
The Revolution played a man down from the 24th minute on. Michael Videira was called for reckless conduct for a flailing elbow that caught Davy Arnaud while they were trying to win position on a 50/50 ball.
Nicol thinks that may have cost his team a chance to advance in the tournament.
“Both players were going for the ball,’’ he said. “I’m all for giving out red cards to players who are intentionally throwing elbows. But he wasn’t. There are players making rugby tackles before this and they’re not given a yellow card.’’
The Revolution will most likely need to win Sunday against Atlas and receive help in other games. Videira will miss the match because of the red card.
“We’re running out of players,’’ said Nicol. “I’m disappointed with the own goal. But I’m more disappointed with the red card.’’
The Revolution’s goal came well after the red card. In stoppage time to end the first half, Kenny Mansally made it through a scrum after a throw-in and delivered a through pass to Kheli Dube. Dube stopped and deliberately rifled a shot past Kevin Hartman.
Videira had New England’s other glittering chance before he was ejected. He dribbled the ball between defenseman’s Matt Besler’s legs and hit the right post. Sainey Nyassi rebounded with a shot that flew wide left.
New England had three other shots in the first half. Kansas City yielded just one and it wasn’t on goal.
The second half wasn’t much different. Kansas City had its best chance to score when Claudio Lopez attempted a cross to Josh Wolff, who whiffed on a slide to try to make contact. It still grazed Reis’s fingertips, but was booted out by captain Jay Heaps.
One minute later, New England scored on itself.
“That’s what happens when it’s wet,’’ said Revolution midfielder Jeff Larentowicz. “[Gomez] shot it in there hard. When it’s wet like it is, it comes hot off the turf. Darrius was in the right place.’’
Gomez said he was embarrassed, but also grateful for the outcome. The tie keeps the Wizards alive in the tournament.
“But, obviously, we’re disappointed with just 1 point,’’ Gomez said, with a lot of precision, because he didn’t believe it.
He smiled when he said it and left. Kansas City was thrilled to get the point. 