Revolution 3, Orlando City SC 3: New England leaves Orlando with a point despite two goal lead at the half

Despite leading by two goals at the half, the New England Revolution leave Orlando with just one point after a 3-3 draw in a chippy contest that saw six goals and 24 fouls.

The Revs saw one change to the starting XI with Diego Fagundez in for Wilfred Zahibo who was serving a one game suspension for yellow card accumulation. Antonio Delemea was once again in the starting lineup after having his red card rescinded from last weeks match against NYCFC. Teal Bunbury was also dressed after missing two games due to a hamstring injury.

The Revs capped off a dangerous few minutes when in the 15th minute Gustavo Bou sent a ball into the box and Orlando’s Tesho Akendeli misplayed it back off of the post and into the net for an own goal to put New England up 1-0.

The home team wasted little time equalizing, as a corner by Mauricio Pereyra found Nani who put a well played header into the back of the net to knot the score at 1 goal each at the 22 minute mark in the Eastern Conference matchup.

In the 35th minute Cristian Penilla capitalized on a head scratcher of a decision by the Orlando keeper Brian Rowe. Rowe was caught in no mans land and Penilla sent a chipshot towards goal that snuck just under the crossbar to give New England a 2-1 lead, and to give Penilla his 4th goal in as many career games against the Lions.

A little bit of give and go between Carles Gil and Bou, combined with some poor defending resulted in the Revs 3rd tally of the first half as Bou sprinted into the middle of a group of purple shirts in the 41st minute and slipped the ball past a sprawling Rowe to put the good guys up by two goals.

Orlando came out from the halftime break with purpose and just two minutes into the second half cut their deficit in half thanks to a Dom Dwyer header in the 47th minute.

The game drew to a 3-3 tie in the 54th minute as Nani showed why he’s a one name wonder in the MLS, and with the brace has 12 goals on the season. The Portugese winger secured a ball off of a Antonio Delmea block and burried it in the top corner past Matt Turner.

The final fourty minutes of play saw some chippy physical play from both sides, but neither team was able to add to their total, despite 7 minutes of added time. Penilla and Bou were both unable to net game winners down the stretch, and as usual Matt Turner came up huge with some impressive saves to allow the Revs to add to their point total on the year.

The Revs finish the week with 40 points and sit in the 7th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of both Montreal and Chicago. Despite only taking 1 out of 6 possible points in the last two games, the team is still just two points out of 4th place (Toronto and NYRB both play on Sunday so this could change slightly). The Revs next take the pitch next Saturday as they play host to Real Salt Lake at Gillette. That game will be a 7:30 p.m. kickoff as the boys in blue look to continue their success over teams from out west and secure an important three points and put some room between them and the teams nipping at their heels.