The New England Revolution have never beaten the Philadelphia Union, and they were hoping that a good performance on Saturday night could reverse that trend. Come halftime, it would appear that the tactic of choice is to stupefy the Union through boredom in hopes of a gap forming in their defenses. The Revs have conceded 69.5% possession to the visitors and took an ugly 0-0 stalemate into the locker room at the interval.
New England didn't manage a single shot - not shot on goal, but shot - through the entire first half. The Union, for their part, didn't actually do much better, but they did manage to create a few dangerous chances on the ball. Matt Reis was called into action in the 23rd minute to catch a 25-yard curler from Massachusetts product Sheanon Williams.
The Revs created one or two dangerous moments or situations, but were never able to connect the final ball that could lead to a shooting chance. In the 43rd minute, the Union's Antoine Hoppenot ripped a laser from a tight angle on the left that Reis parried away. On the ensuing corner, Amobi Okugo nearly put the visitors ahead when he nodded Freddy Adu's corner at goal, but the Revs were bailed out by the crossbar.
There's no analysis to be had here; the Revs have to be better in every phase of the game in order to sneak a winner here. They've been lucky so far not to be punished by mistakes at both ends, and conventional wisdom would be that such luck will not hold. Also, they can't score if they don't take shots.
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