FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England and Sporting Kansas City shared the points in a tense and windswept 0-0 draw at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.
Revolution midfielder Clyde Simms intervened to clear C.J. Sapong's effort off the line after 19 minutes to thwart the best opportunity of the match. Neither side came to terms with the blustery afternoon and ultimately settled for the stalemate.
Both teams flailed around in their attempts to cope with the windy conditions at Gillette Stadium during the first half. Chances arrived infrequently with neither side finding much cadence in possession in this disjointed affair.
OPTA Chalkboard: Midfield grind sets tone for testy affair
The only genuine opening of the opening half came through a characteristic piece of scrappy play. Seth Sinovic's long throw from the right side sparked off a chaotic sequence inside the Revolution penalty area.
The ball eventually bounced kindly for Sapong at the near post. Sapong drove his effort toward goal, but Simms intervened to deflect the effort off the crossbar and out of the danger.
Although the temperature increased as the half progressed with the Revs lobbying for penalty kicks, the action did not as the encounter petered out until the interval.
The gritty fare continued into the second half with neither team capable of devising a way through with any sort of consistency.
Sporting generated probably the best opportunity of the second stanza after 73 minutes with a long ball over the top. Claudio Bieler raced onto the feed, but Matt Reis rushed out to charge down the effort on the right edge of the penalty area.
New England finally launched its first shot toward goal in the 77th minute on a free kick from a promising position just outside the box, but Juan Toja curled his effort over the bar disappointingly. SKC central defender Ike Opara then directed his header wide of the far post in the waning stages to ensure both sides ended with a point.
The Revolution next return to Gillette to host FC Dallas on March 30. Sporting, meanwhile, host undefeated Montreal later that evening.
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
Rank |
Player |
What We Saw |
1 |
<span style="font-size: 12px;"><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/aurelien-collin" target="_blank">Aurélien Collin</a></span> |
Vigiliant in defense and dominant in the air, the Frenchman marshaled Sporting's drive to a road point. |
2 |
<span style="font-size: 12px;"><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/matt-reis" target="_blank">Matt Reis</a></span> |
Earned a clean sheet on his return to the Revs' starting GK job, with one particularly important denial of Claudio Bieler. |
3 |
<span style="font-size: 12px;"><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/lee-nguyen" target="_blank">Lee Nguyen</a></span> |
Lively on the ball, eager to attack and create, the New England midfielder probably deserved more for his efforts. |
