Chester, Pa. — The New England Revolution continue to struggle with the Philadelphia Union, who prevailed, 2–1, with a game-winner in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time Saturday night at Talen Energy Stadium.
Second half substitute Anthony Fontana blasted past New England goalkeeper Matt Turner from outside the area following an errant clearance off a corner kick. Fontana also opened the scoring in the 73rd minute, eight minutes after coming on for Andrew Wooten, by chipping over Turner after a scrum in the box involving Kacper Przybylko and Alejandro Bedoya.
The Union (6–2–3, 21 points) have now won or tied all three of their meetings with the Revolution (3–3–5, 14 points) this season. The Union also own an eight-game unbeaten streak against New England dating back to 2015, and haven’t lost a home game to the Revolution since 2015.
Revolution midfielder Matt Polster sees red
New England controlled spells of possession Saturday night, but struggled to crack into Philadelphia’s resolute and physical midfield.
The Revolution went down to 10 men in the 53rd minute when referee Guido Gonzalez Jr. showed Matt Polster a second yellow for obstructing a Jose Martinez counter-attack.
“Certainly, [the red card] changes the complexion of the game,” Revolution head coach/sporting director Bruce Arena said. “I think an experienced referee knows not to send a player off on a foul like that. If that’s the case, he probably would’ve sent off two players from Philadelphia with similar type of fouls playing with yellow cards.
“Really not a smart play by [Matt] Polster, a player playing with a yellow card. In that game, they know the kind of referee that’s doing the game. You could be sent off because of the lack of experience that referee has. No excuses. I think Polster made a foolish play — losing the ball and then a foul — despite the fact that I think the referee was absolutely incorrect.”
Late game dramatics and Homegrown heroics = Another 3 points in the bag 💰🔥 #DOOP pic.twitter.com/RVyvYifE4r
— X – Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) September 13, 2020
Tajon Buchanan provides brief equalizer
Arena injected energy into his side’s attack by subbing on Gustavo Bou, Tajon Buchanan, and Lee Nguyen. New England appeared in gear to escape Philadelphia with at least one point, and potentially go for the win, as Buchanan scored his first career goal by finishing a give-and-go with Bou in the 81st minute.
“I think coming over here in Philly, we came to get a result whether that was a point or three points,” Buchanan said. “And it’s nice to score your first goal in MLS, but we came up short today and we gave up a tough goal in the last minute of the game.
“It was kind of unlucky but we just got to regroup and keep moving forward. But I’m really happy to score my first goal, it was a relief.”
