The New England Revolution and Los Angeles Galaxy battled into extra time to decide the 2014 MLS Cup Final, with Landon Donovan’s final game ending with another championship win, 2-1. After advancing to MLS Cup largely on the strength of the team’s offense, the Revs played a much more subdued, composed final. Yet while the Galaxy, led by Donovan and MLS MVP Robbie Keane were on the front foot for much of the game, they couldn’t muster more than a single goal (coming from Gyasi Zardes). This left the door open for an inevitable New England equalizer, which arrived in the form of a highlight goal from Chris Tierney. Into OT, the Revs simply didn’t have enough firepower left after a Lee Ngyuen injury, and Keane latched onto a winning pass, finishing to make it 2-1.

The game’s first half was one filled with uncharacteristic errors and tentative play from both teams. Revs and Galaxy highlights were far and few between, though the game was decidedly in Los Angeles’s favor. Revs forward Charlie Davies (a Boston College alum) had the best New England chance of the opening 45 minutes, but his quick counter attack was blocked by timely Galaxy tackle. Yet given the lack of chances, it was little surprise that the game was 0-0 at the end of the 1st half.

In the second half, the game came to life. Each team was slowly finding the other’s weakness, and the Galaxy were the first to do so. Despite playing solidly throughout the second half of the season, both A.J Soares and Andrew Farrell had a problem defending the right side of the field (especially the space between them). Galaxy attackers continually found that space and attacked it. In the 52nd minute, L.A. got its breakthrough. Gyasi Zardes latched on to a deflected cross, and cooly finished it far post.

Down 1-0, New England was slow to respond, but finally did achieve the offense that they needed, and it came from a combination of one the team’s most experienced and least experienced players. Rookie forward Patrick Mullins (subbed on in the second half for Charlie Davies) bolted onto a speculative pass into the corner, and crossed into the box for Wellesley native Chris Tierney. The left back took a calm touch past the Galaxy defender, and slotted the ball home to tie MLS Cup at 1-1.

In extra time, both teams looked nearly exhausted, but with the stop-start style of the first half resuming, it was the Galaxy who found a rhythm. And in heartbreaking fashion, it was Keane who broke the off-side trap that New England deployed, and scored the winner, making it 2-1. It was the fifth MLS Cup Final loss for the Revs, who are now 0-5 all-time in the league’s championship game. Despite the loss, it remains a remarkable season for New England, but the loss remains a tough one for manager Jay Heaps and his talented squad.

In the first half, Charlie Davies provided the best opportunity for the Revolution, but was thwarted by a timely Galaxy tackle: 

Here’s the go-ahead goal from the Galaxy’s Gyasi Zardes that gave Los Angeles the lead: 

Teal Bunbury produced a half chance through pure determination:

MLS MVP Keane was through on goal with a golden chance, by Shuttleworth produced a calm save:

Kelyn Rowe almost curled one in:

Finally, after nearly 80 minutes of struggle on offense, substitute rookie forward Patrick Mullins setup Tierney for the tying goal to make it 1-1:

From another angle:

And Teal Bunbury came as close as you can to one of the finest MLS Cup goals ever scored, but not quite:

But in the second half of extra time, Keane found a mistake in New England’s trap, and promptly found the back of the net. 2-1:

Featured image via American Futbol