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Nguyen’s late winner turns tables on Earthquakes

Lee Nguyen, Cordel Cato

 Photo by ISIPhotos.com

The San Jose Earthquakes have made it a routine to pull off late heroics at Buck Shaw Stadium, with last-minute goals an almost expected part of the proceedings in the small Northern California stadium.

Fans at Buck Shaw saw another late game-winner on Saturday, only this time it wasn’t by the Earthquakes, but by the New England Revolution, who escaped San Jose with all three points after recording their first win of the 2014 season in dramatic fashion.

Lee Nguyen’s stoppage-time winner helped give the Earthquakes a 2-1 victory on Saturday night. The Revs midfielder ran onto a Scott Caldwell pass before beating his man and slotting a shot past Jon Busch in the third minute of stoppage time.

The goal, the first by a New England player this season, capped the team’s best performance of the season. The Revs controlled the match in the first half, taking the lead in the 35th minute on a Victor Bernardez own goal that came after a Diego Fagundez pass put pressure on San Jose’s defense.

San Jose lived up to their reputation as a second half team, pushing hard for the equalizer before breaking through in the 69th minute when Chris Wondolowski pounced on a Jose Goncalves clearance to tie the match.

The Earthquakes looked like they would ride momentum into another late home victory, but it was New England that conjured some Buck Shaw magic, silencing the Earthquake fans with Nguyen’s late winner.

Here are the match highlights:


http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#ec=Z5b3RnbDocpjbJ7b41e4L4_YAN-9jmtw&pbid=4bfc225f82bf46c48dfb065eda97f74f

Comments

  1. Ref definitely bungled the free kick. He blew the play dead then let Davies take the quick start (ball seemed to be moving slightly) then lifted his arms to show advantage. I believe in the ref’s mind he
    blew the whistle and then allowed play to continue which is a big no-no. But these things have a way
    of becoming even in the course of a season. Next game the Revs will be complaining about a call.

    I still the think the Revs deserved the 3 points. Lots of shots on goal. Great defensive play. Better than
    SJ overall.

    Reply
  2. Quakes were committing players forward believing in the go ahead..
    The ball on the re-start was clearly still moving.
    Nice goal by lee n.
    Davies looked good..

    Tough loss for SJ that own goal was brutal.
    Really looking fwd to the new grounds.

    Reply
  3. Lee is one of the best American players both in the US and out. I can’t think of a player w/ more creativity than him. Should be a starter on the WC roster

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    • Sadly it comes down to being a winning team that benefits from his skills. Toss Keane or Defoe in front of him and he’s on the plane. Also, not playing two years in Vietnam probably means you’re on the plane.

      Reply
  4. Unfortunately the field was unusually slick. I guess NE has more experience with that. Go Wondo!!! Go Earthquakes!!!

    Reply
  5. Played well, what game were you watching? They were dominated the entire game. The only goal they scored was bs. The free kick should have been called back as the ball never even came close to stopping. Typical MLS ref’s what are you going to do. Nice seeing Davies on the field, the kid still has some speed and fight left.

    Reply
    • You’re right – typical MLS refs – only wanted to call fouls against one team all night. A relatively even game in terms of rough play, yet at one point the stats read 11 to 3. Revs couldn’t buy a foul for most of the night, including two legitimate penalty shouts. In the end, on a cynical, bookable foul, the ref kept his card in his pocket and allowed the restart to happen quickly, undoing the professional foul rather than booking the player, and the Revs turned it into a goal. Almost makes up for ignoring Goodson’s trip of Davies without any knowledge of where the ball was (let alone getting close to it).

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      • Bookable foul are you kidding me. Lenny was fouled 5 times and there could have been a few more added. The Goodson foul would have been one of the softest PK penalty I’ve ever seen. How about the hand ball in the first period? No questions the DC defender was leaning into the ball and re directed it off his upper arm. It is what it is and that’s why we love footy.

  6. Correction needed in the article:
    Lee Nguyen’s stoppage-time winner helped give the *Earthquakes* a 2-1 victory on Saturday night.

    That should say a Revs victory.

    The Revs played exceptionally well the first half. More of that please. I hope they can build on it, and open up the goal scoring.

    Reply

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