COLUMBUS, Ohio – Brad Friedel was happy with a lot of what he saw from his New England Revolution side in Saturday night’s 1-0 loss to Columbus Crew SC.
“I thought the effort of the players was outstanding tonight,” Friedel said. “I think we bossed the game from start to finish. They couldn’t find a solution to playing out of the back against us.
“I’m really proud of the players. The way they performed tonight, we did not deserve to lose.”
Friedel was not happy, however, about the decision to allow the game’s only goal to stand, as replays showed that Crew SC center back Josh Williams had strayed a fraction offside before latching onto Federico Higuain’s set-piece service and flicking home the winner just before halftime.
It marks the second straight road game in which Friedel has felt aggrieved by an offside decision after a controversial call in Toronto cost the Revs in a 3-2 loss to TFC three weeks ago.
“The free kick is offside,” Friedel said, adding that he believed Teal Bunbury had been fouled prior to Columbus winning the decisive set piece. “I don’t understand how you can’t see that he’s a shoulder offside. It’s another one. It seems that we’re on the opposite end of a lot of VAR decisions.
“But I’m going to go back to a lot of the positives. We were very, very good today and did not deserve to lose.”
One week after picking up their first win of the season in a gritty performance against Minnesota, the Revs were once again energetic at MAPFRE Stadium. They pressed relentlessly, limited the influence of Gyasi Zardes and Higuain, and were consistently first to second balls.
What they lacked, however, was sharpness in the final third, as they managed just two shots on target despite plenty of forays into the attacking half of the field.
“I think maybe at times we were rushing it,” said Bunbury. “Maybe we weren’t as dynamic as we should’ve been. Sometimes maybe I think we were forcing it and could’ve taken our time, and at times when maybe we could’ve gone quick, we weren’t. It’s just a little bit off here and there.
“But I still think we had some opportunities. Maybe they weren’t clear-cut shots on goal, but I think we were still getting in good enough positions to create that final shot, final cross.”
New England’s task became all the more difficult when center back Michael Mancienne was sent off for a second bookable offense in the 64th minute, and the Revs will now need to cope without their captain for next weekend’s meeting with defending MLS Cup champions Atlanta United FC.
That’ll be the first of three straight home games against Eastern Conference opponents, already marking a critical stretch for the Revolution just six games into the season.
“We’ve got to win them all, right?” Andrew Farrell asked, rhetorically. “We’ve got to win all these games. We’ve got to get maximum points. Especially when you’re not winning games on the road, you’ve got to win at home.”
