NEW YORK — Starting slow has been a tendency of the Revolution since MLS began in 1996. And the team continued its non-winning early ways, playing to a 1-1 tie with New York City FC before 23,425 at Yankee Stadium Saturday.
But the Revolution (0-1-3, 3 points) were not discouraged after rallying from a deficit, then dominating the action while playing a man down for most of the second half.
“When I came into the game we were down a man, but we certainly didn’t play like we were down a man,’’ said Revolution forward Charlie Davies, who entered in the 57th minute. “We were very smart, tactically, we still played attacking football. I had some good chances myself. I think if we take the positives out of this game, we’ll be strong and confident heading into Friday against [the New York] Red Bulls, which is really one of our biggest rivals.’’
The Revolution squandered at least two breakaways in the late going, threatening consistently despite losing midfielder Gershon Koffie to a 51st-minute red card. Koffie and defender Je-Vaughn Watson (who scored for Jamaica in a 1-1 tie with Costa Rica Friday) will be suspended for the Revolution’s home game against the Red Bulls.
Davies, returning after a hamstring injury, had a shot cleared off the line in the 75th minute and was stopped by defender Diego Martinez after Kelyn Rowe set up a two-on-one situation in the second minute of added time.
“Nine times out of 10, he buries those,’’ Revolution coach Jay Heaps said of Davies. “It’s not about how the team is approaching the game, not about how we’re preparing for the game, it’s all about execution right now.
“It’s a cliché, but it’s the final ball, the final piece of the puzzle. Someone’s got to make the play. It’s something we talked about all week. We were close enough but didn’t deliver. We had two or three clear chances in the first half. I thought if we had been a little cleaner it would have been a different game before the red card.’’
NYCFC (1-1-2, 5 points) stayed in contention thanks to a couple of extraordinary plays by Spanish striker David Villa, plus an open-net finish by former Brown University midfielder Thomas McNamara in the 10th minute.
McNamara converted a rebound after Villa’s half volley off the crossbar, concluding an unlikely sequence that began with a throw-in and continued as Tony Taylor scuffed a shot.
The Revolution’s pressure paid off late in the first half. Diego Fagundez was taken down by Andoni Iraola, who was cautioned by Ricardo Salazar. NYCFC struggled to clear the free kick, Koffie drawing a foul in the penalty arc.
Chris Tierney then sent a low free kick through the defensive wall, the shot deflecting off Steven Mendoza and past Josh Saunders for the tying goal in the 38th minute.
The game opened up even more after the ejection of Koffie, following a tackle on McNamara in the center circle. Teal Bunbury broke through several times on the right wing. Fagundez threatened on the left side. And Rowe found a rhythm as a playmaker in place of Lee Nguyen (US national team duty).
“I’ll back those guys all day to score those chances,’’ Tierney said. “For whatever reason, I don’t know if it’s the field or the conditions, but those guys will score those. They just need some time to get their confidence back.
“We’ll get results and get rolling and I think you’ll see those flying in. We created enough chances to win the game, that’s all we can do — the final product will come.’’
The Revolution have compiled a winning record after four games only four times. And, in terms of futility, so far this season ranks high — it is the first time the Revolution remain winless after four matches since 2001, when they lost their opening six games.
“We’re not down on ourselves,’’ Tierney said. “We think we’ve got enough quality on the team that, over the course of the season, we’ll pick up enough points to be in a good position. Our confidence is staying high. We’ll keep working hard to sharpen up in the final third and sharpen up defensively, and eventually our quality will come through. A lot of teams have a lot of things to fine-tune and we’re one of those and we’re going to keep working on it.’’
