It has been a true baptism of fire for the New England Revolution over the last week or two. Their unbeaten run came crashing down against NYCFC only for misery to be compounded this time out. As has become far too much of a regularity, the Revs threw away points from a winning position!
Philly Come From Behind to Beat the New England Revolution!
Andrew Farrell’s Suspension Begins
The big change by Bruce Arena for New England was one he was forced into. Experienced centre-half Andrew Farrell saw red at Yankee Stadium and so Henry Kessler retained his place in the starting XI. This time around though, he partnered Jon Bell. Here are Bell’s words on the pairing: “Me and Kess, we train a lot on the same team at practice. We were able to click really well, really quickly.”
New England Revolution’s backline remained the same apart from that and there was only one other change to the side that lost in the big apple. Wilfrid Kaptoum made way for Matt Polster, Polster having been sidelined for a few games now due to concussion protocol.
Live from Philly, it's your starting XI!💥 pic.twitter.com/A8pROAwNUe
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) July 16, 2022
On the flipside, Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin made four changes. Last time out, they beat Inter Miami 2-1 away from home and this was the case again this time around. There has been a fair amount of rotation in the right-back spot and it was Nathan Harriel who got the nod in this one after Olivier Mbaizo started in Florida.
Captain Alejandro Bedoya along with strike duo Corey Burke and Mikael Uhre were the other two to drop to the bench. In their place, as a result of a changing formation, Julian Carranza took the sole slot up top whilst teenagers Jack McGlynn and Paxten Aaronson also were involved from the start.
Read More: Curt Onalfo Discusses His Role as the New England Revolution Technical Director
The New England Revolution Struggled in Defence
As previously mentioned, dropping points after having a lead is all too common an occurrence for the New England Revolution this season. Bell fronted up to this issue: “We’ve just got to be better and limit our mistakes, because really, I think most teams can’t beat us until we make our own mistakes.” Something else which is fairly regular in Foxborough is the praise heaped on the shoulders of new goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic. It seemed that he had a tough task to replace Matt Turner, but the Serbian hasn’t missed a beat thus far.
Petrovic produced a couple of big saves in the first half which played a big role in the game being goalless at the break. It was the Revs who took the lead, Carles Gil playing the ball down the line for Brandon Bye to get a cross. Gustavo Bou was on the other end of said cross and he fired it beyond Andre Blake without even taking a touch. This is the Argentine’s seventh league goal of the season, taking him level with the recently departed Adam Buksa.
🎶Come on Union score a goal, it's really very simple🎶
You know the rest… pic.twitter.com/ilOdUKp2dR
— X – Philadelphia Union (@PhilaUnion) July 17, 2022
Whilst there is a lot to praise Petrovic for, he was at fault when Philly struck back. He came charging out for a corner, allowing substitute Uhre to rise the highest and head into an empty net. The New England Revolution were then at sixes-and-sevens just moments later. A push from Kessler gifted Hungarian Daniel Gazdag to convert from the penalty spot. He gladly obliged.
Coach Arena offered a very frank assessment of what went wrong: “I obviously think in the second half we played very well and we just blew the game… So, at the very least, I think we deserved a point today and didn’t get it. Philadelphia was a smarter team on the day.” Bruce then continued; Djordje [Petrović] is still young. As a young goalkeeper, you’re going to make some of those mistakes. Henry [Kessler] should have enough experience at this point to make better decisions on those type of plays.”
Points dropped from winning positions in MLS this season:
1. LAFC – 0 (!!!)
2- Inter Miami – 2
3. NYCFC – 4…
T-27. FC Cincinnati – 15
T-27. FC Dallas – 15
28. New England Revolution – 24— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) July 17, 2022
A Last Word
It is another disappointing outing for the New England Revolution given the position they found themselves in. “This is a tough loss. I think it’s the second time now we’ve played against, probably, the two best teams in the league and we held our own for about 70, 60 minutes, and close to the end we can’t finish and get the job done” is Bell’s analysis.
The Revs have a chance to redeem themselves away from as they visit the Columbus Crew next Saturday. At the same time, the Union will also be on their travels. Exploria Stadium is their location, the home of Orlando City.
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