FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Playoff soccer makes its way to New England on Sunday evening when the Revolution hosts the Columbus Crew in the second and decisive leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series.
TICKETS: Choose your seats for the Second Leg of Revs-Crew!
Their 4-2 victory in last weekend’s first leg in Columbus means the Revs will advance to their first Eastern Conference Championship since 2007 with a win, draw or one-goal loss on Sunday. Even a two-goal loss by a score of 2-0 or 3-1 would see the Revs through because of the away-goals tiebreaker.
READ: Dissecting all the scenarios for Sunday’s second leg
Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. on Sunday with coverage available on ESPN2, 98.5 The Sports Hub and WMVX 1570 AM (Portuguese radio). Comcast SportsNet will air a live postgame show immediately after the final whistle.
Current Form: Revs continue to build momentum with decisive first-leg victory
Charlie Davies became the first player in Revolution history to score two goals in an MLS Cup Playoff game – sandwiched around strikes from Chris Tierney and Lee Nguyen – as the Revs bagged four precious away goals in the first leg of this series at Crew Stadium.
WATCH: Set pieces, counterattacks help Revs build 4-2 aggregate lead over Crew
Columbus needs at least three goals to overturn the first-leg deficit, putting New England in the advantageous position of having a lead to protect from the start on Sunday. But protecting that lead won’t be the Revolution’s only focus this weekend – they want to continue pushing for goals of their own.
“We know they’re going to have to come out and score goals, so we have to be sound defensively, be in good spots and just make sure that we give them nothing,” said Teal Bunbury. “We’ll still go out there and not play just defensively, but also try to go out there and score.”
The first-leg win pushed the Revolution’s record to 10-1-1 in the last 12 games in all competitions, while it snapped the Crew’s six-game home winning streak and three-game winning streak overall. Columbus is now 6-2-1 in its past nine games, with both losses coming at the hands of New England.
Past Meetings: Revs and Crew to square off for fourth time in the past seven weeks
There are perhaps no two foes in Major League Soccer more familiar with each other right now than the Revs and Crew, who’ll be meeting for the fourth time in less than two months on Sunday evening.
Overall it’ll be the fifth meeting this season – all since late July – and the sides have split the first four encounters, both winning once at home and once on the road.
The Revs have had the better of the series in recent weeks, winning the two most recent matchups after the Crew was triumphant in the first two meetings.
Injury Report: Both sides remain near full health heading into decisive second leg
Just as it was for the first leg, injuries aren’t much of a concern for either side entering the weekend.
Only midfielder Shalrie Joseph (out with a groin strain) is listed on the Revolution’s injury report, while the Crew has been coping with the same three long-term injuries – Matt Wiet, Kingsley “Fifi” Baiden and Daniel Paladini – for much of the season.
Final Thoughts: Revs must “stay together as a unit” to see off the Crew
“We have to stay mentally sharp for this home game,” said Bunbury. “It’s basically halftime and we know that Columbus is a good team and it showed.
“When it’s playoff time, there’s a lot of physicality that’s going on and it’s the team that can stay together as a unit that usually will prevail and get the wins. For us going into this next game, it’s going to be key that we just stay sharp and stick together.”
