The New England Revolution scored three goals in a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Fire Tuesday night at Gillette Stadium. With the win, the Revolution move on to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Finals to face either the LA Galaxy or FC Dallas who play Wednesday night at 10 pm Eastern on ESPN. While the Revs might be fighting to stay in the MLS Cup playoff race, the chance for an Open Cup trophy and qualification into the 2017-2018 CONCACAF Champions League.
Goals galore
The Revolution found goals from Kei Kamara (16’), Je-Vaughn Watson (42’), and Teal Bunbury (85’), while the Fire had a fantastic single-handed goal from David Accam (40’). New England led a vast majority of the match, thanks largely to a terrific night from midfielder Kelyn Rowe. Not only did Rowe bring a higher attacking presence to the match, but he also did a great job of linking passes together throughout the midfield.
Tonight’s match was a classic case of one team capitalizing on their chances more than the other. Both clubs registered 16 total shots and five on target, while the Revs obviously put three of their five shots on target in the back of the net. Brad Knighton also played a large role in New England’s semi-final victory, providing four saves on the night.
Each club’s Man of the Match
New England: Kei Kamara. The continued presence of having a true number nine striker up top makes a huge world of difference of the Revolution. After Juan Agudelo went down with injury and Charlie Davies was traded to the Philadelphia Union this past week, Kamara has been the only consistent striker the past few months. Thanks to his early penalty kick goal after Rowe was taken down right inside the box, the Revolution never looked terribly threatened by Chicago the rest of the match. Even late into the match, there came multiple times where Kamara showed his veteran skills and held the ball nicely and laid it off to teammates when the time called for it. Those who watched the match will recall a moment late in the game where Kei completely missed a wide-open Lee Nguyen, however, he made up for it with an assist on Bunbury’s game-clinching goal in the 85th minute.
Chicago: David Accam. By far the best player all night between both clubs. Accam continues to show how versatile of a player he truly is every time he touches the ball. New England did a terrific job of limiting his touches in the first half, but his spectacular solo goal in the 40th minute made scouts around the world suddenly want to know more about who he is and what his asking price might be come January. Accam did see his night end with a straight red card in the 89th minute after an altercation with Rowe got heated in a hurry. Aside from that, Accam played a terrific game, the Fire just do not have a supporting cast around him to make him a superstar just yet.
Looking forward
New England faces a tough challenge regardless of which team makes it to the US Open Cup final. Both FC Dallas and LA Galaxy have incredible offensives that can slice through an inconsistent defense like that of the Revs. While the win against Chicago must feel nice, it is a long way from the type of skill and adversity New England will see come September 21 in the Open Cup final. New England hasn’t won a US Open Cup trophy since 2007 and with recent MLS Cup final issues, this could be a welcome time to final break their final curse.