Revolution 3-1 Chicago Fire: Player Ratings and Man of the Match

The Revolution fell flat on Saturday, surrendering three second-half goals in a sloppy road performance. Goals from David Acaam, Harry Shipp and Gilberto doomed the visitors, who have now fallen behind D.C. United in the Eastern Conference Standings.

Following the loss, who deserves Man of the Match honors? Cast your vote below.

Rating Scale: 1.0 Goat → 10.0 Golden Boy

Starters

Bobby Shuttleworth - 5

After collecting a pair of highlight-reel saves in the first frame, Bobby made a critical error on a near-post shot from David Acaam. I'm not convinced the shot took a deflection; I just think Bobby gave the midfielder too much credit and cheated far post. On a typical day, he makes that save.

Kevin Alston - 4

Inserted into the Starting XI to keep pace with Acaam, Alston made a handful of strong defensive stops (3 tackles). Unfortunately, Acaam outshined Alston, making a handful of runs passed the veteran right back and into a goal-scoring position.

Andrew Farrell - 3.5

Farrell, a steady rock along the Revolution back line, turned in a largely forgettable performance against the Fire. In the first half, an uncharacteristic giveaway nearly resulted in a Chicago goal; in the second half, a 1v1 gaff with Harry Shipp resulted in the game-winner. These mistakes overshadowed an otherwise solid match (5 tackles, 7 interceptions).

Jose Goncalves - 5.5

Goncalves looked sharp against the Fire, amassing 6 interceptions while intervening on a handful of key Fire possessions. I wish he played Acaam tighter on Chicago's second-half equalizer—JoGo represented the last of three defenders beat by the Ghanian midfielder—though he turned in a strong performance nonetheless.

Chris Tierney - 6.5

Tierney looked dangerous from the flank all match long. A curling cross, weighted to perfection, set up Juan Agudelo for a go-ahead goal in the first half. If Tierney can gather one more assist this season, he will turn in the best statistical campaign of his career. It's been that kind of season for CT8.

Scott Caldwell - 5

Just not a lot of bite from Scotty in this one. A bad giveaway in the middle of the park set up Acaam's equalizer, and he struggled to command the middle of the park thereafter. Expect more from the consistent midfielder on Oct. 17 against a surging Montreal side.

Jermaine Jones - 5

Every time I thought Jermaine had found the match, he made a head-scratching play—a sloppy pass, an overly-optimistic decision in the attacking third, a defensive misstep. In the end, he looked relatively dangerous moving forward, though it certainly wasn't the cleanest start of his Revolution career.

Kelyn Rowe - 6

For most of the match, Rowe looked relatively quiet on the wing. But in the second half, the UCLA grad found his stride. He nearly beat Jon Busch on a far-post strike and (despite Paul Mariner's qualms) showed great vision by sending a patient square ball to Juan Agudelo in front of goal. With a little bit of luck, Rowe would have left this match with a goal and an assist.

Lee Nguyen - 6.5

Like many of his teammates, Nguyen took a step backward against Chicago. But as we've found in the latter stages of this season, Nguyen can step back and still perform well. He created 5 goal-scoring opportunities and once again served as the quarterback of Jay Heaps' attack. He isn't finessing shots the way he did a year ago, but his creativity looks as sharp as ever. Man of the Match candidate.

Diego Fagundez - 5.5

Diego turned in a relatively quiet match on Saturday, though he still found a way to leave his mark. Represented the only Revolution starter to connect on more than 79% of his passes (Diego connected on 90%) while creating a pair of goal-scoring opportunities. His movement looked a bit off, however, as he never found the space to hit a shot.

Juan Agudelo - 7

On Friday, we clamored for an Agudelo start, and the Colombian-born forward responded with a big-time match. Finished a gorgeous Tierney cross with a perfectly-placed header, took 3 shots (all on frame) and ran into strong goalkeeping on a close-range, second-half effort. Led the way with a pair of aerial wins, too. Deserves a second consecutive start against Montreal.

Subs

Teal Bunbury - 3.5

Just not much cooking for Bunbury in this one. Replaced Daigo in the 58th minute and made himself invisible for the majority of the match—that is, until he picked up a foolish yellow. Disappointing appearance for the Revolution workhorse.

Daigo Kobayashi - 3.5

Heaps turned to Daigo for an attacking spark, though the Japanese midfielder struggled to find the match. Hindsight is 20/20—but why not Steve Neumann in that spot?

Charlie Davies - N/A

Charlie entered the match seeking an equalizer, though he never found the match—and the club ultimately went down a second goal. Took just one touch in an abbreviated, 7-minute shift.