Revolution II Recap: Another Dominant Performance Sees Victory On The Road
A three-goal performance sees Revs II secure three points away from home!
Richie Williams and New England Revolution II returned to action Sunday afternoon as they paid a visit to Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, for a meeting against third-placed Philadelphia Union II.
Sunday saw Williams make three changes from the lineup that secured a 4-2 win over New York Red Bulls II on August 15. JD Gunn made his first start in goal since July 13 as he started behind the backline of Hesron Barry, Gabe Dahlin, Victor Souza, and Damario McIntosh. Cristiano Oliveira, Javaun Mussenden, and Marcos Dias formed the midfield behind the attacking trio of Gevork Diarbian, Malcolm Fry, and Liam Butts.
Revs II’s first big chance came in the opening minute when a series of fluid passes led the ball to Diarbian on the left side of the box. The forward attempted to slot the ball centrally, but goalkeeper Mike Sheridan dove onto the loose ball to end Revs II’s chance.
JD Gunn came up big in the 12th minute when he stretched wide to save a shot to the near post from Cavan Sullivan. He came up big again in the 13th minute when he sprang off his line to dive on to the ball before a Union II attacker could get to it.
After several good chances, New England finally found the breakthrough in the 35th minute. After cutting the ball back to Dias, the striker lobbed the ball back to Butts, who got on the end of it and rocketed it into the roof of the net to give Revolution II a 1-0 lead.
Butts’ 35th-minute goal saw him cement his name into Revs II history as he became the second player in club history to score 10 goals in a single season. Jordan Adebayo-Smith became the first to do so after netting 12 during the 2023 season.
After finding the first, the floodgates opened for New England. The 38th minute saw an absolute mishap from Union II that led to Revs II scoring a second goal of the match. After some miscommunication led Sheridan to race off his line as Neil Pierre headed the ball back toward goal. Both stood in disbelief as the ball bounced its way into the back of the net to give New England a 2-0 lead!
Another poor effort from Philadelphia led New England to find a third goal. After receiving Rafael Uzcátegui’s pass, Neil Pierre took an awkward touch that left him astray from the ball.
Dias pounced on the loose ball and advanced it forward with some give-and-go passing with Butts. Dias eventually dished it back to Butts, who slotted it past Sheridan to score his second goal of the day, his 11th of the season, and gave New England a 3-0 lead.
Cards came flying out in the 74th minute after a shoving match broke out between both sides following Javaun Mussenden’s foul on Markus Anderson. It appears words were exchanged following the foul, which led to McIntosh shoving Anderson. McIntosh’s shove led to retaliation from Kellan LeBlanc that saw him get a shove in of his own.
After all was said and done, Damario McIntosh, Javaun Mussenden, Kaiden Moore, and Kellan LeBlanc entered the book with yellows. McIntosh’s day came to an early end in the 80th minute when the head referee issued him a second yellow card and ejected him from the game. McIntosh will now miss Sunday’s home match against Chicago Fire II.
Revolution II’s hopes for donuts faded in the 90th minute after Sal Olivas’ initial shot deflected off Souza; the ball fell right to Malik Jakupovic, who slotted it home to shrink the deficit to two. Despite the late goal, Revolution II’s earlier flurry of offense allowed them to hold on to secure a 3-1 win over Philadelphia Union II.
They’ll look to keep the momentum going when they return to Gillette to host Chicago Fire II.