A scoreless draw as the Revs snap a two-game skid.
The New England Revolution looked to overcome their recent downward skid on Saturday as they wrapped up their three-game road trip inside Lower.com Field to face the Columbus Crew in their second meeting of the year. Their first came on May 7, where an 88th-minute goal from Erik Hurtado stole two points from the Revolution.
The Revs were without two big names entering the match. Just one day after reporting Dylan Borrero did not travel with the team, a source close to Seth Macomber said Gustavo Bou also did not travel. Senior Revolution staff writer Jeff Lemieux confirmed that both Bou and Borrero are experiencing minor leg injuries that the club expects to be short-term.
MLS newcomer Cucho Hernandez poised a threat to the Revolution defense as the former Watford striker had been on a tear. Cucho has bagged four goals over 137 minutes since debuting on July 9.
There were two changes from last week’s outing as Jozy Altidore made his fourth start of the season up top while Arnór Traustason made his first start since June 26.
The Revolution defense came up huge in the 24th minute as Djordje Petrović made a save on a Pedro Santos curler destined for the bottom right corner. The ball bounced back into the box, where Lucas Zelarayan attempted to head the ball into the back of the net. Henry Kessler was not letting that one in as he leaped into the air and headed the ball away from danger.
Santos attempted to find Petrović lacking in the 60th minute as he sent a low-driven shot towards the bottom right corner. Petrović again stretched out to get his hands on it and prevent Columbus from capitalizing.
A pair of substitutions came in the 67th minute as newly acquired Designated Player Giacomo Vrioni made his Revolution debut as he replaced Traustason. Maciel also entered as he replaced McNamara. The final Revs substitution came in the 82nd minute as homegrown Damian Rivera entered for Jozy Altidore.
Although both sides fought tooth and nail for ninety minutes, neither side found the back of the net, as things ended in a 0-0 draw as the Crew improved to nine-games unbeaten.
Petrović was a brick wall in net. The young Serbian made six saves and was a huge factor in the Revs defensive successes.
Thanks to a 1-0 win by the Philadelphia Union over Inter Miami, Saturday’s draw bumped the Revs up to ninth place in the East with 26 points on a 6-7-8 record.
While the draw ended the Revs two-game skid, the Revs winless streak grew to four games, with their last victory coming on June 19th. The Revs will look to get back into the win column as they host a stacked Toronto FC next Saturday, July 30th, at 8:00 PM ET.