Revolution 2, Crew 1 - Jermaine Jones, Bobby Shuttleworth Pace Revs to Second Place

Time and time again the Columbus Crew found space in between the New England Revolution defense, and time and time again Bobby Shuttleworth came up with tremendous saves.

Jermaine Jones scored in the second half to give the Revs a 2-1 victory over the Crew at Gillette Stadium after Ethan Finlay canceled out Lee Nguyen's opener in the first half. The win propelled the Revs back into second place, two points clear of Sporting Kansas City in third and four back of D.C. United in first.

But the night belonged to Shuttleworth, who like Steve Clark two weeks ago in Columbus, stonewalled the opposition time and time again to keep the Revs level in the match. But in a game where field conditions made possession difficutl, Bobby was not the only hero wearing navy on this night.

Lee Nguyen opened the scoring with his fourteenth goal of the season in the 20th minute when he was left all alone to trap and slot home a Teal Bunbury cross inside the area. But the lead would be short lived, as just five minutes later in the 25th, Tony Tchani played a wonderful through ball past Jose Goncalves to Ethan Finlay who in turn slotted past an on rushing Shuttleworth, the Revs keeper's only blemish on the night.

Jermaine Jones would score his second game-winning goal in as many weeks when he headed home from close range a bouncing ball following a Chris Tierney free kick. There were shouts of offside after the bounce that the ball came of a Revs player to Jones, but the flag stayed down and this Ben Jata screenshot appears to have several Revs, including Jones level to just a fraction off on the play.

Was Jermaine Jones offside on his goal? You decide. #NEvCLB #NERevs pic.twitter.com/N5eS4i2R3u

— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) October 5, 2014

But the night belonged to Shuttleworth, who drew the ire of fans earlier in the year with less than stellar play has been on a tear the last few weeks, and with the Revs primed to make a playoff run now that's excellent news for New England.

It started with an absolute robbery on Aaron Schoenfeld in the 18th minute when a bouncing ball fell to the Crew striker and Shuttleworth had to scramble back to pounce on the loose ball. Had Schoenfeld played the ball towards the top half of the net, there was little Bobby could have done about it but instead he made the brilliant save on a low, hard shot to keep the game scoreless.

In the second half however, Shuttleworth put on a clinic. In the 52nd minute, Tchani held off a persistent Scott Caldwell to find Finlay down the right flank. A deft touch past an overcommitted Tierney left Finlay alone and in on goal but his blast was deflected high and wide by Shuttleworth. Ten minutes later in the 62nd, a "short" corner from Federico Higuain to the top of the Revs penalty area resulted in a low hard shot from substitute Hector Jimenez that Shuttleworth stacked the pads on in front of an onrushing Michael Parkhurst. A minute later Justin Meram played a ball over the top to Schoenfeld and the Crew striker hit a wonderful first time shot that Shuttleworth parried away.

Right after the Jones go-ahead goal, Crew defender Waylon Francis, already on a yellow for an earlier foul against Andrew Farrell, intentionally blocked Charlie Davies from taking a quick throw-in to restart play with his keeper Steve Clark off his line. Davies went to ground on the play (and should get a fine later in the week) but delaying a restart like that is the same as a tactical foul and referee Jose Carlos Rivera gave Francis his marching orders and the Crew finished the game with ten-men.

The Revolution will embark on an odd road trip next week when they play Montreal next Saturday October 11th and then a Thursday game at Houston on October 16th before ending the season at home against Toronto FC on the 25th. With the Revs on the brink of clinching a playoff berth, it wouldn't be wrong to think that New England can try and overtake DC for first place in the Eastern Conference.

The Crew fell to fifth place in the East, three points ahead of Toronto who has two games in hand including at LA Galaxy later tonight.