FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Before the New England Revolution and Columbus Crew begin their two-game, aggregate-goal Eastern Conference Semifinal series on Saturday afternoon, there’s one important rule change fans should understand.
For the first time, Major League Soccer has introduced what’s known as the away-goals rule in the Conference Semifinals and Conference Championship. What it means is that in the event of a tie at the end of the two-game series, away goals will be used to break that tie if possible.
Only if the two teams have scored both the same amount of total goals and the same amount of road goals will the series proceed to extra time.
It’s a procedure which has been used for years in other knockout competitions – common in Europe and South America, but also used in the CONCACAF Champions League – with the intention of providing an incentive for teams to play an attacking style away from home.
With the Revs visiting Columbus for the first leg this weekend, they’ll be fully aware that any goals they can score at Crew Stadium will provide added value. Similarly, they’ll need to be extra vigilant not to concede in the return leg at Gillette Stadium the following weekend.
“It matters. I think you’ve got to be mindful of that,” said head coach Jay Heaps, who is leading the Revs into the postseason for a second time. “You look at it both ways. You have to protect your home – you really have to not give up any goals at home. And when you go on the road, you’ve got to try to get one.”
The rule may be designed to encourage teams to open up on the road and not bunker in, but according to goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth, it won’t necessarily have any effect on the way the Revs play.
That’s because the Revs already employ an attacking brand of soccer both at home and on the road – they scored a total of 10 goals in their last five road games to close the regular season.
“I don’t think it changes much for us,” Shuttleworth said. “Every time we’re stepping on the field, we’re looking for three points and we’re looking to win … I don’t think you can look at that (rule) and change the style or the way we’re going to play at all. We need to focus on ourselves first and the way that we want to play, and then go from there.”
