The New England Revolution claimed their first MLS road win of the season on the final day in dramatic fashion, beating the Montreal Impact 3-2.
As the game went into the 90th minute, with the Revolution up 2-1, Montreal found an equalizer from substitute Matteo Mancosu. Montreal’s Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla whipped a cross into the box, which no Revolution defender picked, and was fired past Brad Knighton to make it 2-2.
The Impact continued to press on, looking as if they would find another goal in the dying minutes, but the Revolution got their first bit of luck on the road with just under thirty seconds left in the game.
With the clock winding down, substitutes Kei Kamara and Kelyn Rowe were rushing up the field looking on what was the final attack of the game. Kamara laid off a pass for Rowe, who held the ball about twenty-five yards out from goal, and then fired a dipping shot that went right over Montreal’s Maxime Crepeau, giving the Revolution their first MLS road win of the season.
Here’s a look at Rowe’s goal that gave the Revolution their 1st three points of the season:
Epic finish from @KRowe210 to give the #NERevs the win in Montreal! pic.twitter.com/mefa0V9Ygc
— NewEnglandRevolution (@NERevolution) October 22, 2017
Up until the 90th minute however, the Revolution had dominated the game. They opened the scoring in the 19th minute through Diego Fagundez, who after feeding the ball to the Krisztián Németh, was in prime position to fire the rebound into the net after Németh’s shot hit the post.
Just before the end of the first half, the Revolution got extremely unlucky, as Anthony Jackson-Hamel’s shot was blocked by the arm of Benjamin Angoua, which resulted in a penalty for Montreal. Patrice Bernier stepped up to take the penalty in his final MLS game, and slotted it in the bottom right corner despite the fact Knighton guess correctly on his shot.
The two teams emerged from the locker rooms at half time knotted at one all, but it only took the Revolution 16 seconds to get back in front. Fagundez intercepted a back pass that was aimed for Impact defender Laurent Ciman and played it across the box to Németh who fired it past Crepeau, earning his first goal with the Revolution.
This dramatic late winner from Rowe ensured that the Revolution would not go win-less on the road for the entire 2017 season. The Revolution ended the season with a still dismal 1-13-3 record on the road for the year.
With this victory over Montreal, the Revolution retained the 7th place spot in the Eastern Conference, which is exactly where they finished last season. The Revolution finished the season with a record of 13-15-6 with 45 points, only five points off the New York Red Bulls in the final playoff spot.
