New England Soccer Today

#NYCvNE Recap: The Remix

Photo credit: New England Revolution

Photo credit: New England Revolution

NEW YORK – For the second straight match, the Revolution fell into an early deficit they were unable to climb out of as they dropped a 2-0 loss to New York City FC on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

David Villa did the honors when he combined on a brilliant give-and-go with Ned Grabavoy in which the Spanish International went alone on Bobby Shuttleworth and scored in the 19th minute.

Former Revolution striker Patrick Mullins put it out of reach when he grabbed a goal in the 84th minute. Mullins was left unprotected during last year’s expansion draft, and New York City wasted no time in claiming him in the first round.

Sunday’s match may have contained a few more fireworks for the Revolution, at least in the final third. According to coach Jay Heaps, he counted “four to five clear chances” that, ultimately, were crumpled up and tossed into the wastebasket. Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez and Juan Agudelo all made strong bids, but neither was able to cash in.

Defensively, the back four was bailed out by Bobby Shuttleworth time after time. The Revolution keeper recorded seven saves on Sunday, and many of them were of the last man to beat variety.

Jose Goncalves was beaten for speed by Khiry Shelton, forcing the Revolution captain to make a last-ditch foul, which earned him straight red card. With only 10 men for the final 23 minutes, a result simply wasn’t in the cards for the locals.

Despite the loss, it’s worth remembering that last year’s Eastern Conference-winning side were blanked in their first two games of the season and were also outscored 5-0 over that span heading into their home opener.

It’s also worth noting that, traditionally, the Revolution’s form in the final third isn’t at its sharpest early. Oh, and Jermaine Jones, the firestarter of last year’s end-of-season sprint, is still on the shelf. So, breathe in, and breathe out, because it is much too early to build the bunkers and stock the peanut butter.

Photo credit: New England Revolution

Photo credit: New England Revolution

Stat of the match: The Revolution were outshot 16-2 during the second half. Clearly not the stuff that comebacks are traditionally made from.

Graphic of Concern

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The Revolution will return to action at 3:00pm on Saturday – yes, only six days away this time – against the Montreal Impact at Gillette Stadium. Here’s a condensed view of how the Impact looked last time they stepped onto an MLS pitch.

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