The New England Revolution took a first-half lead at Crew Stadium on Saturday night from a set-piece. Most people think of thumping headers or gritty scramble goals when set-pieces are concerned, unless they are of the direct variety. This was not the case with Charlie Davies' opener.
Kelyn Rowe's sublime ball in was nice enough, but Davies whole body of work from start to finish on that play was unreal. Let's first examine how it began, with the help of MLSsoccer.com's Ben Jata and his handy screenshot:
Charlie Davies completely unmarked on #NERevs goal. #CLBvNE #MLSPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/gQKoFswrma
— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) November 1, 2014
Look at that. Davies is one of three Revolution attackers on the left side there, but there are only two Crew defenders. Ironically, it's the striker Davies who is left completely alone.
But then go to the video. Charlie loops around the defender to his right and begins his run into the box, which actually takes him closer to another Crew defender, Tyson Wahl, who was none the wiser. This made it all the more amusing when Wahl froze in the middle of the box, confused, while Davies continued his run behind him and met the ball with a sumptuous diving header.
And that diving header, though. You don't see those every day, but when they appear, they're a treat. Davies meets it perfectly and basically taps it in for the lead. Beauty.