Revolution II vs New York City FC II: Three Thoughts
Three thoughts following Revolution II's crucial win on the road!
New England’s run of success continued Thursday evening as goals from Cristiano Oliveira, Gevork Diarbian, and Marcos Dias propelled Revs II to a 3-1 victory on the road. Here are three thoughts.
1 - Fueling The Fire
Revolution II could not have picked a better time to ignite a hot streak. Their 3-1 win over NYCFC II extended their unbeaten run to seven.
Thanks to their recent success, New England has secured 18 of 21 possible points, which has gone a long way in helping Revolution II ascend to second place in the East.
Following August 31st’s draw and shootout loss, Richie Williams talked about the importance of keeping their streak alive and how important it was for his side to keep the pressure up.
“We got to be up for the challenge, and again, in this league, anybody can be anybody, so we just have to keep moving forward,” Williams said.
It’s a message Revolution II heard loud and clear as they’ve won three straight matches since.
With three games left on the year, and three points separating them from first-placed New York Red Bulls II, New England has to keep the pressure up if the club wants to achieve its goal of finishing atop the Eastern Conference table.
2 - Bucked Up
Unfortunately, Javaun Mussenden was forced out of the match in the 54th minute, but I thought Joe Buck had a tremendous outing off the bench.
During his 36 minutes of action, Buck completed 13 of 15 passes, two of which were into the final third. He also had five defensive contributions, two tackles, one clearance, two interceptions, and one recovery. An overall solid performance for the substitute.
On top of the stats, Buck did a good job of applying pressure on New York City, which threw a wrench into their plans.
Whether he’s starting or coming off the bench, I’ve felt Buck has been one of the more underlooked players of this 2025 Revs II squad.
Unfortunately for Buck, he’s been trapped behind solid options in Marcos Dias, Javaun Mussenden, and Cristiano Oliveira, but when he’s been called upon, Buck has delivered. I hope we get to see a bit more of him in the closing three matches of the season.
3 - Easy Erasure
My only complaint about Thursday’s match is that it should have ended in a 3-0 shutout win. That changed in the 64th minute when Camilo Ponce broke down the left flank and sent a cross centrally to James Bilden. Due to some confusion between Victor Souza and Hesron Barry, Bilden found himself uncovered atop the 18-yard box, leapt into the air, and headed the ball home to prevent the shootout loss.
While the Revs II defense has been solid throughout the season, there are times like this when they make the simplest mistakes, which leads to them conceding simple goals. Thankfully, it hasn’t hurt them too much. With playoffs looming around the corner, it’s a trend Revs II needs to kick quickly, or else it could cost them big.