New England Revolution Earn Critical Win Over New York Red Bulls
The New England Revolution defeated the New York Red Bulls 2-1 on Saturday night in Gillette Stadium.
In front of 21,576 fans the Revs fell behind early with an 8th minute goal for New York. But the Revs battled back with a goal by Diego Fagundez to tie the game going into halftime.
Then in the second half the scorching hot Teal Bunbury gave the Revolution their game winning goal to make it 2-1.
With the win the Revolution move to 6-4-4 on the season with 22 points. They are now in a points tie with the Red Bulls for 4th place in the Eastern Conference.
Views For The Match
Pride Night At Gillette
Lineups:
New England Revolution Lineup: Matt Turner, Andrew Farrell, Jalil Anibaba, Claude Dielna, Krisztian Nemeth, Teal Bunbury, Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez, Antonio Delamea, Luis Caicedo, Cristian Penilla
Nemeth being in the starting XI is a clear indicator that Brad Friedel wants to be aggressive to start the match and try and score early and often. Dielna slots in for the injured Chris Tierney.
For the bench it is Wilfried Zahibo, Zachary Herivaux, Brandon Bye, Cody Cropper, Brian Wright, Juan Agudelo, and Scott Caldwell.
Herivaux is returning from International Duty and Agudelo is available after missing the last couple of matches with injury.
The New York Red Bulls lineup is Ryan Meara, Kemar Lawrence, Aaron Long, Aurelien Collin, Connor Lade, Sean Davis, Alejandro Romero Gamarra, Derrick Etienne, Florian Valot, Bradley Wright-Phillips, and Vincent Bezecourt.
New York’s bench is Carlos Rivas, Marc Rzatkowski, Ethan Kutler, Hassan Ndam, Alex Muyel, Evan Louro, and Daniel Royer.
1st Half Reactions: Fagundez Buries Equalizer Ahead Of Half-Time
New England fell behind quickly with an 8th minute goal by Bradley Wright-Phillips. The goal was created by a bad giveaway by the Revs who were looking to turn upfield and flip onto the offensive. Tight window for Wright-Phillips who was able to capitalize on New England’s error.
New England received a flurry of chances throughout the first half with it being very much a back-and-forth half. In the later part of the 1st have the Revolution pressure picked up with sustained offensive zone pressure. This sustained pressure lead to a goal by Diego Fagundez who snuck the ball past in a tight window to get the game back to a tie ahead of half-time.
Fagundez’s goal was assisted by Teal Bunbury. It was Diego’s 4th goal of the season and Teal’s 2 assist.
Critical goal ahead of half-time to help set the tone for the second half of play. The importance of carrying over the pressure and momentum will be key for New England in the second half.
1st Half Stat Pack
New England got off 9 shots in the first half compared to only 5 from New York. 5 of the Revs shots were on target, only 2 for New York.
The Revolution possessed the ball for 58.5% of the time compared to the Red Bulls 41.5%.
Goalkeeper Matt Turner made one save in the first half but on the other side Meara recorded 4 saves. Part of what aided the Revs offensive pressure was 7 corner kicks, per MLS stats, New England had 1 missed chance in the half and lost the duels battle 41-33.
2nd Half Reactions:
One of the bigger storylines to kick of the second half of play was a non-call that should have resulted in a penalty kick. After that moment the match quickly took a more physical route with New England responding to not getting the call. Nemeth was clearly hit as he was about to take a shot.
New England should have a legitimate gripe with there not being a penalty call on that play.
The Revs didn’t let the non-call get to them for long though with the club keeping up their pressure and coming through with a 78th minute goal. Teal Bunbury scored assisted by Cristian Penilla, it was Bunbury’s 8th goal of the season and Penilla’s 5th assist. Bunbury continues his hot tear with his 8th goal in his last 10 games.
The goal was created by an incredible low cross from Penilla who has had some impressive passes so far in 2018 for the Revolution.
Post-Game Reactions
After Diego Fagundez’s goal he took out his shin guards and celebrated with them. One shin guard had Uruguay and the other the United States. After the game Fagundez explained the meaning behind them.
I got my family on Uruguay and my girlfriend and my daughter on the U.S. one. I scored as a Dad for the first time, so I had to somehow get her into it.
One of the consistent themes this season with Brad Friedel is the importance of showing character on the field and the fitness level of the club. Both have ticked up for the Revolution.
The fitness part is becoming critical now with matches coming 2-3 times a week.
Really happy again with the character the players showed going down, especially so early. Stuck to the plan. We had three games this week, everybody knows, we talk about fitness, and we have been since day 1. Our team is very capable of playing three game weeks.
Against New York the Revolution started Nemeth, a striker. The reasoning for bringing in an additional striker and going smaller in the midfield was all part of the plan for the Revs.
We felt bringing in a different type of midfield suited this game because they try to swarm around the ball. I thought Kelyn and Diego and Luis Caicedo did an exceptionally good job in the center and midfield.
As for why Claude Dielna played over Gabriel Somi, Somi failed a pre-game fitness test. The reason behind that is Somi twisted his ankle on Wednesday against Atlanta and it prevented him from getting up to full sprint pregame making it an easy decision for the coaching staff.
And for anyone who is wondering about the non-call on Nemeth. Friedel hadn’t had the chance to see the replay of it before talking with the media post-game. From his viewpoint it looked like a penalty and the official apparently told him they were looking at it.
We’re checking it, I get that a lot.
When asked how Nemeth get’s into positions to potentially draw a penalty Friedel explained: “He’s quick, he’s a total all-rounder footballer, soccer player, sorry. He understand’s where he should be, if he’s playing as a 9 or if he’s playing as winger.”
Up Next For The New England Revolution
With Chris Tierney out for the season with a torn ACL the Revolution may look to bring in an additional left back to compete with Gabriel Somi.
It may be a position where we may have to try to look for somebody to come in and compete with Gabriel Somi. But that is something we will be discussing prior to the July transfer window.
The Revolution are now off until 6/5 when they play Louisville City in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup. New England isn’t back in MLS action until 6/9 when they play the Chicago Fire.
“We’ve got a really good squad, whoever I put on the field. I fully expect to win. We are going to Louisville to win the game. I have said this many times. Losing can be a bad habit that you get into and winning can be a great habit you can get into. No matter who is on the field, we expect to have a good performance. And we hope that we can progress in the Open Cup.” Said Friedel after the game when asked about the schedule going forward.
