FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Columbus Crew battled the New England Revolution to a scoreless draw on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium. Goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum recorded six saves earning his fifth shutout of 2012 as the Black & Gold extended its unbeaten streak to six games.
Both teams came out of the gates swinging with the Revolution having the first clear chance of the night, in the first minute, when midfielder Benny Feilhaber sent a diagonal shot across the goal mouth and barely out of play.
The Crew responded with a shot by Milovan Mirosevic, serving as captain for the evening, which was deflected by Revs ‘keeper Matt Reis in the eighth minute. A few minutes later Emilio Renteria squared a ball to Eddie Gaven who failed to control the ball sending the shot just wide.
In the 15th Feilhaber sprung forward Jose Moreno who found himself alone in front of Gruenebaum but the Crew netminder made himself big and cleared the ball away.
In the 38th minute it was New England forward Fernando Cardenas’ turn to test Gruenebaum with two consecutive point blank shots ultimately saved by the ubiquitous goalkeeper.
As the teams came out for the second half, the Crew became more aggressive in search for the elusive tally. In the 65th minute Justin Meram played a ball to Renteria but the Venezuelan sent the ball to the left of the goal. Six minutes later Nemanja Vukovic took his chance form distance only to see the ball barely go above the crossbar.
As the match entered its final minutes Crew midfielder Tony Tchani took advantage of an opening and shot the ball straight into Reis’ hands. Gruenebaum was called upon again in the waning moments of stoppage time as he saved a shot by midfielder Lee Nguyen to preserve the shutout and the Crew’s sixth straight positive result.
NOTES:
- The Crew is now 5-4-4 on the season and 2-2-3 on the road.
- Andy Gruenebaum earned his fifth shutout of the season extending his career record to 11.
- Gruenebaum was named Barbasol man of the match by Crew fans and by the coaching staff.
- Josh Williams appeared in his 10th career MLS match.
- Emilio Renteria made his 35th appearance for the Crew.
- Kevan George earned his second consecutive start.
- The Crew was without defenders Chad Marshall (concussion), Rich Balchan (sports hernia), and Julius James (back strain), midfielders Danny O’Rourke (ankle), Dilly Duka (hamstring) and Kirk Urso (groin), and forward Aaron Schoenfeld (plantar fascia rupture).
- Milovan Mirosevic served as captain for the first time in the absence of Chad Marshall.
- Next The Black & Gold faces the Chicago Fire on Saturday, June 23, at 8:30 p.m. at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill.
- The Crew returns home on Saturday, June 30, as it hosts Real Salt Lake at Crew Stadium at 8 p.m. It is Red White and Crew night and there will be fireworks following the match to celebrate Independence Day.
New England Revolution 0 Columbus Crew 0
Saturday, June 16, 2012 – Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
Scoring Summary:
Misconduct Summary:
NER – A.J. Soares (Caution) 20
NER – Jose Moreno (Caution) 43
CLB – Sebastian Miranda (Caution) 62
Lineups:
Columbus Crew – Andy Gruenebaum; Sebastian Miranda, Carlos Mendes (Eric Gehrig, 46), Josh Williams, Nemanja Vukovic; Tony Tchani, Kevan George, Milovan Mirosevic, Justin Meram (Bernardo Anor, 72); Eddie Gaven, Emilio Renteria (Ethan Finlay, 90+)
Substitutes not used: Matt Lampson, Cole Grossman, Chris Birchall, Olman Vargas
New England Revolution – Matt Reis; Kevin Alston, Stephen McCarthy, A.J. Soares, Chris Tierney; Fernando Cardenas (Kelyn Rowe, 63), Benny Feilhaber, Shalrie Joseph, Lee Nguyen; Saer Sene, Jose Moreno (Blake Brettschneider, 46)
Substitutes not used: Bobby Shuttleworth, Darrius Barnes, Diego Fagundez, John Lozano, Alec Purdie,
Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Assistants: Chris Strickland, Eric Proctor
Fourth Official: Sorin Stoica
Weather: Partly cloudy and 61 degrees
Attendance: 12,218
