Yet another magisterial performance from MVP candidate Lee Nguyen was enough for the New England Revolution to win yet another match, and they will enter the playoffs as the number two seed in the Eastern Conference. On July 26th after their loss to Columbus Crew, at that point their eighth loss in row, no one would have seen them in this position. But since then, they have accrued 32 points from their last 14 matches and are undoubtedly the hottest team in MLS as they head into the playoffs.
They didn't seem overly concerned about proceedings in this one, having already clinched the second seed. Nguyen, Jermaine Jones and Charlie Davies were all withdrawn early to preserve their fitness, and others were fine just slowing the tempo down as the game wore along.
As the match started, the Midnight Riders unfurled a tifo exalting their boys to go on and claim MLS Cup. Once it got going though, the match itself proved a rather drab affair. The first clear cut chance of the game fell to Toronto's Gilberto, who contorted his body to unleash a wicked strike that came back off the crossbar. Toronto continued to attack, and Daniel Lovitz nearly scored in the 17th minute. After being slipped in, he fired back across Bobby Shuttleworth's goal, but the keeper saved well.
The Revolution came in the 35th minute after a moment of chaotic refereeing. Diego Fagundez was played in but looked miles offside, and the assistant raised and then lowered his flag. Everyone but Fagundez and Nguyen stopped playing, and the youngster squared the ball for Nguyen to finish coolly. It looked a moment of horrible refereeing but the goal stood.
Kelyn Rowe nearly doubled the lead in the 70th minute after being played in one-on-one with the keeper. He looked to have done everything right, but his lob of the keeper went just over the bar. Toronto substitute Luke Moore nearly equalized in the 74th minute, but his header was well tipped over the bar by Shuttleworth.
That would be the final chance of the match, and the Revolution won a controversial match to end the season with 55 points, 14 ahead of Toronto. The Revolution's playoff opponent is yet to be determined, and will be determined on Sunday.