Recap: Revolution 0 - 0 NYCFC

The Revs winless drought extends to six games across all competitions as they fail to find the back of the net in the Bronx.

Photo Courtesy of New England Revolution

The New England Revolution looked to right the ship Saturday afternoon as they traveled to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to take on New York City FC.

While it’s been a rough run for the Revolution, it hasn’t been as bad as NYCFC’s recent run. Nick Cushing and the Pigeons enter Saturday’s contest on the heels of a 3-1 loss to FC Cincinnati as their undefeated run extends to seven games. A streak that has seen New York outscored thirteen to five. It’s been a tough season overall for NYCFC as they enter the match in fourteenth place in the Eastern Conference with sixteen points on a 4-7-4 record.

While NYCFC is not missing as many players, some big names missed Saturday’s match. Defender Thiago Martins was absent due to a lower-body injury. Defender Tayvon Gray was suspended early Saturday morning as the league announced an investigation into Gray for “using language that violates the league policy” following NYCFC's loss to FC Cincinnati.

Bruce Arena made two changes to the lineup from Wednesday as he reverted to a 3-5-2 formation. Djordje Petrović got the start in goal as Christian Makoun, Dave Romney, and Andrew Farrell filled out the backline. Ema Boateng, Matt Polster, Carles Gil, Latif Blessing, and DeJuan Jones filled the midfield. Jozy Altidore made his first MLS start of the 2023 campaign as he paired with Bobby Wood up top.

Nervy moments for the Revolution back line in the 11th minute as Santiago Rodriguez withstood the defense’s pressure and found himself one-on-one with Petrović. Rodriguez attempted to slot the ball past the Serbian keeper, but Petrović made the save. Regardless of how Rodriguez’s shot ended, it would not count as the Uruguayan was offside. 

Keaton Parks had a golden opportunity to put NYCFC ahead in the 13th minute as he looked to send a close-range header to the top left corner of the net. Luckily for Petrović and the Revolution, Parks lacked accuracy on the headed shot as it sailed above the crossbar and out for a goal kick.

Bobby Wood got onto the end of a perfectly placed through ball from Christian Makoun in the 21st minute as he lined up a shot on goal. Wood’s shot evaded the efforts of Luis Barazza as the striker thought that he had found his sixth goal of the campaign. The celebration ended abruptly when the assistant referee deemed Wood offside in the runup, which took the goal off the scoresheet.

A minute later, Wood lasered a shot at NYCFC’s goal. Despite Wood’s strike having some serious weight behind it, Barraza stood tall as he came up with the save.

Gabriel Pereira looked to catch Petrović sleeping in the 23rd minute as he looked to sneak a left-footed shot from outside the box to the top left corner of the goal. Petrović again showed why he’s one of the best keepers in MLS as he stretched out to make the save.

Makoun came up huge for the Revolution in the 24th minute as he executed a perfectly timed and placed tackle to deflect a good-looking shot opportunity for NYCFC away from danger.

Richie Ledzema nearly gave NYCFC the lead in the 34th minute as he looked to send a right-footed shot to the right side of the net. When it looked like the ball would curl around Petrović and into the goal, it ricocheted off the right post and away from danger.

Parks had the chance to rectify his previous mishit header in first-half stoppage time. Despite getting this header on frame, he aimed it directly at Petrović, who made the save.

A frustrating half for both sides as they generated some good chances yet were unable to capitalize on any of them as they entered the locker room scoreless.
One change for the Revolution before the start of the second half. Designated Player Giacomo Vrioni came on to replace Jozy Altidore.

Vrioni looked to find the game's opening goal in the 59th minute as he looked to put a left-footed shot into the right side of the net. Unfortunately for Vrioni, Barraza read the strike and made the easy save.

Pereira came close to notching the first goal less than a minute later as he cut through the Revolution back line and ran onto Santiago Rodriguez through ball. Pereira found himself one-on-one with Petrović. Pereira looked to slot a right-footed shot to the bottom-right corner, but Petrović did just enough as he got his right glove to the ball and deflected it out of play for a corner kick.

A double substitution came in the 74th minute as Gustavo Bou and Jack Panayotou came on for Bobby Wood and Latif Blessing. Bou’s appearance marks his first since April 29th against Cincinnati.

Carles Gil entered the book in the eighty-fifth minute following an exchange of words with head referee Rosendo Mendoza about a previous missed call on Gil.

Things got intense in second-half stoppage time as Braian Cufré collided with DeJuan Jones as the two looked to get to the ball. The studs of Cufré nailed Jones in the leg as the defender went down in obvious pain. Mendoza wasted no time as he issued Cufré a straight red card for the infringement.

Mendoza was sent to VAR to review the play as officials deemed there could have been a mistake in issuing a red card to Cufré. After looking the play over several times, Mendoza stuck to his original call as Cufré was sent off, leading to NYCFC being down a man for the closing minutes of stoppage time.

Petrović came up huge for the Revs in the sixth minute of stoppage time as he made the save on Santiago Rodriguez’s shot to keep things level.

On the opposite side of the pitch, Ema Boateng looked to send a shot on frame in the closing seconds of the match, but his shot took a deflection off Gustavo Bou yards out from goal. The Revs showed frustration as they squandered one of their best chances of the night.

Before the match, the focus was on both sides conceding an astronomical amount of goals, yet in an ironic twist of fate, neither side conceded a goal as the game ended in a scoreless draw.

A disappointing night for the Revs as they only put two of their twelve shots on goal. Despite not getting the result he and his team would have liked, Bruce Arena praised his guys following the match.

“I think we saw some good fight in our team. It was a difficult game and an opponent that needed to win at home. So, I think we did a solid job.”

Saturday’s draw sees the Revolution’s winless streak stretch to five games. Despite the lack of wins, the Revs have picked up points in this rough stretch as they secured draws in their third-straight match. The Revs sit in fourth place following the game with twenty-four points on a 7-3-6 record.

The Revs will look to escape their rut next Saturday, June 10th, as they host Inter Miami CF at 7:30 PM ET as the Revs celebrate their annual Pride Night.