Video: In a season full of highlights, New England Revolution’s Lee Nguyen outdoes himself with playoff-clinching equalizer | MLSsoccer.com
“I took a shot and it took a blessed little deflection,” Nguyen said after the match. “We were just happy to get the second goal there and get the tie.”
The heady shot, which nicked midfielder Calum Mallace, gave New England a 2-2 draw at Stade Saputo, punching the Revs’ ticket to the playoffs for the second straight season.
The goal was Nguyen’s 15th of the season, extending the club record for strikes by a midfielder.
“Lee’s been awesome,” Revs head coach Jay Heaps said. “I thought tonight he was good again. It’s a battle to go down twice on the road in a place that’s really hard to play.”
The Revs found themselves down 1-0 after a Marco Di Vaio beauty in the 12th minute, butKelyn Rowe quickly pulled New England even in the 16th.
Di Vaio scored again in the 39th minute, putting the Impact up 2-1 at the break and leaving a disjointed-looking Revolution side on its heels.
Nguyen brought the Revs back in the 69th minute, picking up the pass from Caldwell before spectacularly finishing New England’s only chance of the second half.
“Montreal is always strong defensively and always dangerous on the counter,” Nguyen said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy but these guys showed a lot of character, a lot of reliance it pushing for the second goal. Credit to the guys, credit to the whole team.
“We’ve just got to keep pushing. We got two weeks to fine tune things before the playoffs.”
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