The New England Revolution certainly had the look of a team that was tired of losing in the first half of their Wednesday night match against the Columbus Crew, but nevertheless they were unable to find a breakthrough as both teams entered the interval knotted up at 0-0. Only a heroic performance from Andy Gruenebuam stood between the Revs and paydirt.
Ryan Guy kicked off the half's scoring opportunities in the 10th minute when he juggled the ball briefly before ripping a swerving half-volley that Gruenebaum had to be on his toes to catch. Right after that, Dimitry Imbongo received an excellent diagonal ball and cut inside before unleashing a good shot of his own that the Crew goalkeeper had to save.
A minute later, in the 12th, Fagundez took the ball right off of Imbongo's feet before taking a shot of his own that Gruenebaum also parried away. Lee Nguyen took what might have been the best-looking free kick of any Revolution player in 2012 when he put one across the face of Gruenebaum's goal in the 19th minute, but again the keeper made the save.
Gruenebaum managed to look a little shaky at times in the half, and though he made six saves, he dropped a few balls and made some questionable decisions. No maneuver was more dangerous than in the 30th minute, when he came out to claim a Florian Lechner throw-in but misjudged it, and instead spilled it into the area. Fagundez tried a dramatic aerial bike finish, but Gruenebaum somehow managed to keep it out.
Federico Higuain had the Crew's best chance of the half in the 37th minute, taking a free kick from about 25 yards out that rasped just over the bar. Jairo Arrieta looked dangerous, but was caught offside several times.
Though the Crew had the better of possession (52.4% to the Revs' 47.6%), New England managed a staggering ten shots, with six on goal, compared to Columbus' three shots in all.