The Columbus Crew saw its six-game unbeaten streak end on Wednesday night, with a 2-0 loss at the hands of the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium. A second half goal by Dimitry Imbongo followed by a Crew own goal proved to be enough for the home team to come away victorious and snap its own 10-game winless streak.
The Revolution came out of the gates fired up looking to get an early goal and set the pace for the match. The first clear chance came in the 10th minute when Imbongo saw his shot at goal saved by Andy Gruenebaum, who was instrumental in keeping the first half scoreless recording six of his career-high seven saves of the night.
Nine minutes later midfielder Lee Nguyen saw his free kick from the top of the box punched out of bounds by Gruenebaum.
The first chance for the Black & Gold came in the 27th, when Dilly Duka received a cross from Chris Birchall and cut inside the box, but his shot went wide hitting the side netting.
10 minutes later, the Crew was awarded a free kick from about 25 yards away from goal. Crew Designated Player Federico Higuaín set up to take the shot but the ball sailed barely above the crossbar.
Higuaín tried again in the 43rd after chesting down a cross from Jairo Arrieta, only to see the ball go high, sending the teams to the locker rooms scoreless at the half.
It only took eight minutes in the second half for New England to get on the board. In the 53rd, Homegrown forward Diego Fagundez hit the left post and then, as Gruenebaum came off his line to stop him, he deflected the ball to an oncoming Imbongo who tapped it into the empty net for the 1-0 lead.
The Revs almost doubled up in the 60th minute when defender Stephen McCarthy headed a Nguyen free kick to the left of Gruenebaum, but the linesman raised his flag calling the player offside.
The second goal came in the 74th minute as defender Chris Tierney flicked a Matt Reis long ball toward goal. As Imbongo was rushing to reach it, Crew captain Chad Marshall tried to head it towards Gruenebaum, but the ball went over the Black & Gold netminder and into the back of the net for the second goal of the night and the first own goal against the Crew this season.
Reis, who posted his second consecutive shutout, was instrumental in preserving the win in the final minutes of the match as consecutive shots by Nemanja Vukovic and Jairo Arrieta were denied handing the Crew its first defeat in the last seven matches.
Despite the loss, the Black & Gold remains tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference with the Houston Dynamo. The Crew has gone 4-1-2 in the last six games since starting its busy stretch on August 15 with a 1-1 draw against L.A. The Crew is now 12-9-6 on the season and 4-5-4 on the road.
Next, the Crew will have a much needed break before returning to MLS action on Saturday, September 15, as it travels to Harrison, N.J., to face the New York Red Bulls at 7 p.m.
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