Antonio Delamea's ill-advised pass to gift Federico Higuain an equalizer on Friday night is the kind of moment every defender dreads and every fan pounces upon.
However, after the New England Revolution's disappointing 1-1 draw to D.C. United in the second game of Group C play at the MLS is Back Tournament, there was also Revs frustration at perceived wastefulness at the other end.
It's not that New England were constantly making D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid scramble, though his 61st minute, fully stretched save of Cristian Penilla was among the better ones of the tournament.
Yet they certainly had more of the ball and the chances, and while Adam Buksa's snap header gave New England a 51st-minute lead, there was a feeling there should've been more damage done. Again.
"We had a chance to get a goal. We had a couple good chances," said Revs manager Bruce Arena in his post-match press conference. "It's disappointing. Soccer is a low-scoring sport and we have a tendency of not finishing well. It's been a characteristic of our team and in the two games here in Orlando, and I'd probably say that was a bit of the case in our first games in the regular season against Montreal and Chicago. We need to do better there."
New England has scored one goal in each of their four matches despite a vertical style that has seen them take at least 15 shots in every contest, and despite registering 20 total efforts on target. Entering the day, only two clubs in MLS were faring worse than New England's now 20% conversion rate on efforts on frame: New York City FC, who have somehow scored only once despite shooting on goal 20 times, and expansion Nashville SC, who are 1 for 8 on such efforts.
In some ways, Delamea's poorly weighted pass leading to Higuain's 72nd-minute goal was easier to take, because it was a one-time mental error, and not a repeating pattern.
"Tony's a great teammate and a great player," said Delamea's backline mate Brandon Bye. "Everyone makes mistakes, and that one happened to hurt us. We're going to battle back, bounce back. Tony was good for the rest of the game. I think it was just a lapse of thought or whatever it was. We move past it together, and I think we created enough chances today that we still should've won the game."
The Revs don't have long to regroup, and also don't know if they'll have everyone available to help them do so. Arena said Carles Gil was removed in the 62nd minute because he continues to deal with the foot injury that kept him out earlier in the season, and that Michael Mancienne came off at halftime because of some muscle tightness.
It's less than a four-day turnaround until Tuesday morning's game against Toronto FC (9 am ET | ESPN, ESPN Deportes in US; TSN in Canada), after having eight days to prepare for D.C.
"I imagine there will be some changes," Arena said of his team for that one. "I can't tell you what kind of changes right now."
