The New England Revolution battled injuries, suspensions, and the malaise that goes with a lost season, while simultaneously taking on their scheduled opponents, the Chicago Fire, on Saturday night. Despite being at home, they went in to the match as underdogs. And against all odds, the Revolution pulled off a victory in front of the 4th-largest crowd ever for a stand-alone regular season match at Gillette Stadium.
The evening's hero was Diego Fagundez, who took a slow, sloppy match by the scruff of the neck in the 18th minute and buried a sublime 30-yard shot to give the home side a first-half lead. The goal didn't exactly bring chances with it, but New England was able to close out the half while maintaining the lead.
The second half was more of the same, with the Revs' defense limiting Chicago to nearly zero real chances. In fact, Bobby Shuttleworth made his first save of the match - the first for either goalkeeper - off a dribbling volley from Patrick Nyarko in the 86th minute. Jerry Bengtson missed a golden chance to seal it in the 90th minute when he missed a wide-open net high after Fagundez put it on a platter for him.
The Revolution will be back in action next Saturday at midday against Montreal in their 2012 season finale.