Usseglio: This One Hurts

A head-scratching game for Revolution fans

Photo By J. Alexander Dolan

New England Revolution fans were desperate for points coming into Saturday night’s match against St. Louis CITY SC. The first-ever meeting against St. Louis seemed like a promising opportunity to pick up three points in the push for a playoff spot.

With so much on the line and their full attacking might in the starting lineup, the Revs needed to come out of the gates strong. Despite having so much talent on the field, the Revs struggled to connect passes and get shots on goal, especially in the first 20 minutes. Whether it was Porter’s game model or a lack of familiarity between the players, the Revs did not start the game well.

Former Rev Henry Kessler opened up the scoring on a great header from a St. Louis corner kick. The Revs were shaky all night defending set pieces, a fact of life that Revs fans are unfortunately all too familiar with.

Despite not playing well, the Revs were able to score an equalizer thanks to the brilliant play of Luca Langoni. The Argentine winger displayed a bit of magic on the left wing, blazing down the touchline and turning over Kessler before slotting a shot between the legs of the St. Louis keeper Roman Bürki. It was a fantastic goal, with Langoni proving to be a difference maker for the Revs.

Carles Gil also made his mark, scoring a wonderful goal with his right foot that surprised everyone including Bürki, who never saw the shot coming. It was a great moment and gave Revs fans reason to believe a win was within reach. But things can never be that easy, can they?

The way the Revs play can be frustrating at times, especially in a game like this. They had so much talent on the field, especially in the attacking end.

Despite fielding a better collection of players, the Revs were clearly out of sorts. The midfield in particular seemed out of sync and there were times when their spacing was clearly off. Turnovers in the midfield continued to hurt the team, with each mistake providing St. Louis another opportunity to get back into the game. It did not take long for them to do so.

St. Louis scored the equalizing goal from, you guessed it, a turnover in the midfield. The goal came during a strange moment when the Revolution were not allowed to sub in Nacho Gil because of a new substitution rule. Langoni took too long to exit the field, so Nacho had to wait a minute before he could enter. Revs fans, and even commentators Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies, were scratching their heads as to why the player could not come on. Coach Caleb Porter was understandably irate with the fourth official. In the time that Nacho was waiting to get in the game, Ian Harkes turned over the ball outside the New England box and St. Louis capitalized.

An even more confusing moment happened later on in the second half. There was an apparent handball by a St. Louis player in their box, which should have given the Revs a penalty.

I say apparent because it clearly was a handball to everyone except the referee. I have no idea how that was not a penalty. The VAR asked the ref to take a look. They took a long, long look. But nope, somehow they deemed the St. Louis player’s arm was in a “justifiable” position. Whatever that means.

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I guess having your arm up above your shoulder and punching the ball is a justifiable thing to do. It was a head-scratching decision that may have cost the Revs a win. Instead, they had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

What a crazy game.

With the downpouring rain, the Revs not being able to pull out a win despite all of their attacking talent, the strange substitution rule, and a handball not being a handball. While certainly entertaining, that is not what the Revolution need. What New England needs is points, and a draw at home to a weaker opponent in St. Louis just made the playoff push that much harder. In a season where Murphy’s law seems all too real, everything that can go wrong is going wrong for this team.

Things are not getting any easier next week when the Revs travel to face Orlando City. Time keeps ticking and I hope the team starts figuring things out. Otherwise, we are going to have to start dreaming about next season.