Bruce Arena: "I Think The Way We Started That Game Was Disgraceful"

The Revs paid for their sluggish start on Saturday night.

Photo Courtesy of the New England Revolution

The New England Revolution paid for their sluggish start on Saturday, ultimately losing 2-1 to Inter Miami CF.

Miami got on the scoresheet first when David Ruiz hit a long-range shot in the 6th minute that deflected off of Dave Romney before settling in the back of the net. It was the earliest goal that the Revs have conceded this year.

“I think the way we started that game was disgraceful,” head coach Bruce Arena said. “To fall behind by a goal in the first seven minutes of the game and the way some of our guys stepped on the field to start that game was poor. Ultimately, it cost us the game.”

The Revolution thought they got an equalizer via Noel Buck in the 17th minute, but the Video Assistant Referee flagged the play, deeming that an offside Latif Blessing affected goalkeeper Drake Callender. 

Arena disagreed with the call, saying, “The goal that they called back was a good goal. That’s not interfering with the goalkeeper. It’s amazing to me that they would call that goal back. I don’t know what the VAR was thinking.”

The Revs brought the game back to level terms in the 26th minute when Matt Polster found Carles Gil, who drove forward to score his third goal of the season. 

Miami regained the advantage just before halftime through Josef Martinez, who finished a feed from David Ruiz.

The Revs pushed for another goal in the second half, but it didn’t happen. Jozy Altidore had one of the best chances, but his late bid from a narrow angle was saved.

When the final whistle blew, the Revs were forced to accept their second loss of the season, and their first against an Eastern Conference foe.

Arena remarked, “I believe it’s a game we gave away. We should not lose that game.”

Of course, the game becomes hard when you concede early, especially on the road, which is why the early goal hurt so much.

Dave Romney couldn’t quite identify why the Revs struggled at the start of the game.

“Sometimes it just happens,” Romney said. “Sometimes you start games really well. I think Toronto we started extremely well. Sometimes it's just kind of a game of momentum, you have one or two breaks go your way or against you in the first couple of minutes, and if that kind of momentum gets against you, the crowd is behind their team, it's kind of easy to not snap out of it quick enough, and that's unfortunately just what happened tonight and they ended up scoring off of that early momentum.”

Regardless of what happened on Saturday, Arena is resolute in making sure it doesn’t happen again.

“Good athletes show up when they play at home or on the road,” Arena said. “When you don’t, you need to question the quality of those players. So, we will have many games ahead of us and we will be challenged to make sure we have 11 players ready to play from the opening whistle.”