During their long winless run and losing streak, scoring has been a major issue for the New England Revolution. On Saturday night against the Columbus Crew, the Revs attack came to life and put three goals on the board, but unfortunately the defense conceded four as New England were defeated for the fifth consecutive game.
The Revs opened the scoring in the 16th minute through Ryan Guy. The Guam international ran onto a quick layoff and blasted his shot on goal. It took a lucky deflection that wrong-footed Andy Gruenebaum before bulging the net.
Seven minutes later, Benny Feilhaber played an excellent through ball to put Jerry Bengtson in alone on goal. The Honduran forward rounded Gruenebaum and fired into an empty net for his second goal of the season, putting the Revs firmly in the driver's seat with a 2-0 lead.
That's when everything came unglued and Federico Higuain took over. A silly foul just outside the box put the Crew's new designated player over the ball, and he placed a breathtaking free kick into the top corner to bring the Crew back into the match in the 26th minute.
Then, in the 32nd minute, Jairo Arrieta brought the Crew level again. A quick Crew counterattack put Arrieta in on goal, although replays suggested he may have been offside. Regardless, his shot was vicious, and Matt Reis had no chance on it.
Columbus wrapped up the second half with another phenomenal Higuain effort. Stephen McCarthy committed another foul outside the box on the 43rd minute. Higuain stepped up, and this time chose the other side of the goal to beat a despairing Matt Reis and put the Crew ahead 3-2.
The action in the second half slowed until the 81st minute, when Diego Fagundez won a penalty off of Julius James. Lee Nguyen, brought on in the second half for Clyde Simms, stepped to the spot and buried his attempt to tie it up at 3-3.
Concentration on set pieces and throw-ins has been an issue for the Revs all season, and once again they allowed a scoring play to be created from a throw. A simple toss from midfield got to Tony Tchani, who dinked a little ball over the top to Arrieta. The Crew's lethal new striker faced down Matt Reis and calmly chipped it past the veteran keeper for the Crew's fourth goal of the match and the eventual winner.
Jerry Bengtson nearly tied it up for the Revs in stoppage time with a drive from the top of the box, but substitute goalkeeper Lampson parried it away.
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