CARSON, Calif. – The New England Revolution spent the first half of Sunday afternoon’s meeting with the LA Galaxy digging themselves into a very deep hole. Then they spent the second half digging their way out of that hole.
In the end, there was simply too much digging to be done.
A 3-0 halftime deficit was eventually cut to 3-2 with 20 minutes remaining, but Juan Agudelo’s bid for a late equalizer crashed off the crossbar before Steven Gerrard made it 4-2 to salt the game away for the Galaxy.
“The first 45 (minutes) is nothing we should be proud about,” said Agudelo, who scored his second goal of the season before hitting the woodwork for a second straight week. “But we kept our heads up and at halftime we talked amongst each other and we said we have to take it personal.
“That’s what we went out and did in the second half. It felt like we were battling more.”
Head coach Jay Heaps said the halftime conversation was “emotional” after the Revolution conceded a pair of goals to Robbie Keane sandwiched around a stunning volley from Giovani Dos Santos.
While the Dos Santos strike was a thunderbolt from 20 yards, both of Keane’s goals were simple tap-ins at the back post as the Revs continue to struggle dealing with crosses.
“The first one was just terrible marking,” Heaps said. “If you leave Robbie Keane open on the back post, it’s not nine out of 10, it’s 100 out of 100.”
A halftime substitution – forward Teal Bunbury coming on for left back London Woodberry – and a tactical switch to a hybrid 4-3-3 setup with Kelyn Rowe operating down the entire left side of the field eventually offered a spark, as did 60th-minute substitute Femi.
Rowe gave the Revolution life with a left-footed rocket into the upper corner in the 67th minute before Agudelo’s clever finish from Femi’s knockdown three minutes later, setting the stage for a potential comeback.
But New England made their final substitution in the 70th minute before Jose Goncalves suffered a rib injury, forcing the visitors to try to complete their comeback with 10 men. They so nearly did, but ultimately it was too big of a hill to climb.
“It seemed like we were back at it,” Agudelo said. “It seemed like we were a whole different team. This is how we should play every single game – with a little bit of anger.”
Now the Revs are left to try to carry that anger into a three-game home-stand that begins next weekend, when they’ll host the Chicago Fire at Gillette Stadium.
“We showed a lot of fight, but the first half of the next game, we’ve got to play like it’s personal,” Agudelo said. “It’s a huge opportunity for us and it can’t come at a better time. We’ve been tying games, we’re coming off a loss, three home games coming up and a chance to get nine points. It would be huge for us.”
