worst possible time, but they can still clinch a top-four playoff seed when they entertain the Philadelphia Union in the regular-season finale Saturday in Foxborough, Mass.
The Revolution (14-9-10, 52 points) enter Decision Day fifth in the Eastern Conference, and a top-four spot would grant them home-field advantage for Round 1.
But they are 1-4-1 since coach Bruce Arena resigned the night of Sept. 9 and have lost three straight matches, most recently a 3-2 defeat at Nashville SC on Oct. 14. Confidence level will be a
key componentif the team wants to end the skid.
"You want to be able to get a win, and you want to believe that you have that ability to see games out," interim coach Clint Peay told WBZ-FM 98.5 in Boston. "We have to stop bleeding goals. We have to give ourselves a chance to win the game."
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The Revs must go up against the No. 3 team in the Eastern Conference. The Union (15-8-10, 55 points) cannot move any higher, but they can certainly drop back with both the Columbus Crew (54 points) and Revs on their tails.
There are three scenarios for New England to displace either Philadelphia or Columbus in the top four, but they all start with a Revolution victory over the Union on Saturday.
Union coach Jim Curtin is prepared to see an opponent desperate for all three points.
"They've lost a legendary coach midseason, which is always difficult, and they've had a little bit of a dip in their last six games. ... So they'll be looking to get that momentum back with a good performance for their fans on the final day of the year," Curtin said.
While the Revs have been losing, the Union are unbeaten in their past eight outings (2-0-6). They were off last week after a scoreless draw with Nashville on Oct. 7.
Daniel Gazdag leads Philadelphia with 14 goals, Julian Carranza has 13 and Mikael Uhre has nine. If Uhre scores Saturday, the Union will be just the second team in MLS history (San Jose, 1996-97) to have three double-digit goal-scorers in two straight seasons.
The Revs' best attacker of late is Tomas Chancalay, on loan from Argentina's Racing Club. He tallied both goals last week against Nashville and is New England's leading goal-scorer since his August debut (six in 10 matches).
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Gustavo Bou
nettedtwo goals and the New England Revolution
concludeda three-match losing streak to
finishthe regular season, beating the Philadelphia Union 2-1 Saturday in Foxborough, Mass.
Bou
notchedthe tying goal on a penalty kick and added the go-ahead tally in transition for the Revolution (15-9-10, 55 points), who won for just the second time under interim coach Clint Peay.
The Union (15-9-10, 55 points) slipped from third to fourth place on Decision Day with the loss, coupled with the Columbus Crew's victory over CF Montreal.
But Philadelphia held on to a top-four playoff seed despite posting an identical record to New England, thanks to the goal-differential tiebreaker. The Union will have home-field advantage for a best-of-three, first-round playoff series with the Revolution.
Julian Carranza scored his 14th goal and Andre Blake made three saves for Philadelphia. Jacob Jackson had two saves for New England.
The Union opened the scoring in the 16th minute.
Philadelphia cleared the ball upfield toward New England's box, with two Union players closing in. Revs defender Dave Romney tried to head it out of the way, but Jackson also dove and partially batted the ball, leaving it behind him in the box. Carranza had gone to the ground and
kickedit in lying on his side.
Union defender Damion Lowe was called for a handball in the 23rd minute when a shot attempt hit him in the left elbow. Two minutes later, Bou
depositedhis penalty kick in the bottom-left corner of the net.
The Revolution then seized the lead on a fast break in the 41st minute. Carles Gil sent a centering pass to Bou, who beat Blake at the near post for his seventh goal of the season. He hadn't scored in a regular-season match since July 15 after missing time with a leg injury.
Tomas Chancalay had a few chances for New England around the 70th minute but couldn't convert.
The Union's Kai Wagner had a free kick in the 87th minute and Nathan Harriel got on the receiving end for a one-time goal that would have tied the game, but Carranza was whistled offside to nullify it.