Foxborough, MA (SportsNetwork.com) – The New England Revolution put the
finishing touches on their Eastern Conference semifinal victory over the
Columbus Crew on Sunday, notching a 3-1 second-leg win at Gillette Stadium to
advance to the conference finals with a 7-3 aggregate victory.
A 4-2 first-leg win at Columbus put the Revs in prime position to advance, and
Lee Nguyen’s goal in the 43rd minute only increased that advantage for the
home team on Sunday.
Jose Goncalves added another goal for the Revs 10 minutes into the second
half, while Columbus had Ethan Finlay sent off in the 61st.
The Crew managed to pull a goal back in the 69th through Tony Tchani, but Teal
Bunbury answered eight minutes later for the Revs, who will face Red Bull New
York in the Eastern Conference finals.
Jairo Arrieta had a couple of chances for the Crew in the first half, and his
best opportunity came in the 34th when he collected the ball near the penalty
spot and fired a low shot on goal that New England goalkeeper Bobby
Shuttleworth got down to stop.
Columbus was the more dangerous team for much of the first half, but Nguyen’s
goal shortly before the break knocked some of the wind out of the Crew’s
sails.
Bunbury chipped a ball toward the front of goal that picked out the run of
Nguyen, who stabbed home the ball from close range to make it 1-0 on the night
and 5-2 on aggregate.
Shuttleworth made a fine save on Arrieta’s header in first-half stoppage time,
while Charlie Davies set up a goal for Goncalves 10 minutes after the break.
Finlay saw red for a challenge on Revs netminder Shuttleworth in the 61st, but
the visitors still found the net eight minutes later when Tchani turned home a
header from Justin Meram’s free kick.
But Bunbury capped the win in style with a goal 12 minutes from time as he
timed his run perfectly and was played into the box by Daigo Kobayashi,
allowing him to hammer a first-time shot into the top left corner.
