Shut-out Again
- Updated: August 28, 2016
Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz
The New England Revolution’s bad form continued on Sunday as the team fell 1-0 to the New York Red Bulls. Defensive errors gifted Bradley Wright-Phillips a 55th minute goal and it was all New York would need to take three points at Red Bull Arena.
The match marked the fourth straight game the Revolution have failed to score.
For the second straight match head coach Jay Heaps went with a 4-4-2 formation, this time with Teal Bunbury starting up top beside Kei Kamara.
New York had the better of the early play and threatened through Kemar Lawrence in the fifth minute. Lawrence, in space in the left side of the box, attempted to beat goalkeeper Brad Knighton at the near post, but saw his shot hit the post and roll out of play.
New England then had a shout for a penalty in the 9th minute when Kei Kamara went down under pressure in the box trying to get to a cross. Referee Ricardo Salazar waived away the protests.
The home side threatened again in the 27th minute through a free kick just outside the box. Felipe beat the Revolution wall, but had his shot beat away by Knighton.
Knighton came up huge in the 44th minute when the Red Bulls again sustained pressure against the Revolution. This time Sacha Kljestan blasted a shot from close range and saw it saved.
The Revolution came out stronger in the second half, but it was all undone in the 55th minute, when Andrew Farrell, who had just 40% passing accuracy in the first half, turned the ball over in the defensive third. Jose Goncalves, who had passed at just 35.7% in the first half, had another chance to clear after the Red Bulls tried to force a pass through him, but he took too long and allowed Wright-Phillips to pick off the ball and finish to give New York a 1-0 lead.
New England pushed for an equalizer, bringing on Diego Fagundez in the 60th minute and Agudelo in the 71st and Agudelo fired just wide from distance a couple minutes later. Eventually New England went to three at the back with Daigo Kobayashi coming on for Chris Tierney in the 82nd minute.
Agudelo continued to lead a resurgent Revolution attack, but the team wasn’t able to find a late equalizer and extended their goalless streak to 362 minutes, falling 1-0 and extending their winless run to six matches. New England (6-12-9) now sits 5 points out of the 6th and final playoff spot with 7 games to go.
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