Revolution Score Opening Goal, Fall to NYCFC at Yankee Stadium
An own goal opens the Revs scoring account for the season, but its not enough to capture a win on the road.
The New England Revolution lost 2-1 to New York City FC at Yankee Stadium Saturday evening and remain winless through four league matches.
Brandon Bye reclaimed his place in the starting eleven, replacing MLS newcomer Illay Fiengold, who had previously played every minute of New England’s opening three matches. Matt Polster also made his season debut, starting and playing 76 minutes in midfield. Making way for Polster was Luca Langoni, who came off the bench for the first time this season.
After a decent start in possession for the Revs, it was the home side who produced the first real chance of the match in the ninth minute by way of a corner kick. 38-year-old Maxi Morales whipped in an in-swinging corner that met the head of former Benfica midfielder Keaton Parks. Aljaž Ivačič was up to the task in the Revolution net, making an excellent diving save to his left.
The Revs then opened the scoring in the 26th minute, and it was beautifully ugly. Bye sent in a curling ball from the right side of the 18-yard box, which Thiago Martins sliced into the back of the net in an attempt to hammer the ball clear. New England's first goal of the season was an own goal, 1-0 Revolution.
The Revs’ lead would hardly last ten minutes, though, as New York City responded with a sensational counterattack. Hannes Wolf carried the ball forward with numbers, finding Julian Fernandez, who coolly fired the ball into the bottom left corner from eight yards out to level the match at one.
Both sides offered some shots from distance early in the second half, however, chances were hard to come by until NYCFC buried the match winner in the 68th minute. Following a corner Parks found himself in a small pocked of space at the top of the box, and he fired a low shot to the right of Ivačič who was able to make the initial save, however, an acrobatic volley of the rebound was sent into the open net by Alonso Martinez making it 2-1.
Caleb Porter made several late substitutions to try to find an equalizer, bringing in Luca Langoni, Illay Fiengold, Noel Buck, and Luis Diaz to spark the attack. However, New England was unable to score a second goal.
Postgame Porter was pleased with the opening 35 minutes, but disappointed with a few moments in transition.
“I just felt like we were too safe when we got in and around the goal, so we’ll continue to work and continue to look at those things, Porter said. “I don’t think we lost the game today because the guys didn’t fight. We lost the game because we weren’t clean in between the boxes and that continues to be where we’re falling short.”
New England will not play next weekend but will return home to face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, March 29th, at 2:30 p.m.
Pretty bad when we have to have the other team score on themselves because we can't find the back of the net.
Porter is not going to last until summer if this keeps up. NYCFC had a full one goal advantage in xG (1.5 to 0.5). Ridiculous. We can't even create enough chances to get a single goal. Four matches running.