Wednesday night saw a clash of the titans at Gillette Stadium as the top two teams in the Eastern Conference faced off. The Revolution were looking to get revenge against Nashville after their disappointing loss in the Music City to start the season. While New England played much better this time around, it became clear that Nashville is on another level under the leadership of head coach B.J. Callaghan.
The men in yellow and blue dominated play early on, keeping possession and making the Revs chase the game. That would be a common theme throughout the night; as much as they tried to gain an advantage, New England was always chasing the game.
The Revolution had their moments in the first half, and they certainly looked up for the challenge. There were times they were able to connect passes, snapping the ball around the field and even playing some line-breaking passes to test Nashville’s defense. On the defensive side of the ball, New England kept its shape and were quick to make tackles against Nashville’s attacking players.
Ethan Kohler stood out with his strong tackles and ability to predict and step in to snuff out Nashville’s attacks. His partner in defense, Mamadou Fofana, also had an excellent game, calm as always when commanding the backline.
As the first half wore on, it felt like New England was starting to grow more into the game and maybe could find a breakthrough goal. Unfortunately, it was Nashville that scored first on a counterattack in the 34th minute.
The goal was orchestrated by Cristian Espinoza, who was brilliant on the night. The Argentine’s quality was too much for Matt Polster who, in his first start since his injury earlier in the season, could not prevent Espinoza from playing a ball to a wide-open Bryan Acosta at the top of the box.
In the transition, Polster was effectively playing as a left back to mark Espinoza. His normal position in the center of midfield was unoccupied, allowing Acosta to walk in unmarked and bury a shot past keeper Matt Turner.
For all the good the Revolution had done in the game, they were down 1-0. While disappointing, I did not have the feeling that the game was out of reach. We have seen this team come back too many times this season to lose hope so easily.
Then came a mistake. A howler.
Matt Turner received a back pass from Kohler with plenty of time and space. The Revolution defenders rushed back to make themselves available for an outlet pass, or Turner could have simply booted the ball when he saw an oncoming Nashville attacker. Instead, Turner waited to play a pass and keep possession. He unfortunately had a poor touch on the ball, giving it right to Nashville’s Warren Madrigal. The Costa Rican forward took advantage of his opportunity, slotting home the ball and giving Nashville a 2-0 lead just before halftime.
As the camera panned to Turner after the goal, you could see the look of disbelief and disappointment on his face. It was a costly mistake, one that gave Nashville complete control of the game. Their defense had prevented the Revolution from creating dangerous chances so far, and now they were in a position to ramp up their defensive intensity.
Coming out of halftime, I knew it would take a lot for the Revs to get a result. Nashville was solid to start the second half, as New England continued to struggle to find the final pass and quality to get on the score sheet.
The game started to open up, with both teams having chances. Nashville almost scored on a break in the 63rd minute, but Kohler deflected the shot just enough to smash off the crossbar and go out for a corner.
It felt like the Revs were playing into Nashville’s hands, chasing the game and applying pressure to try and find a way to break through. Their efforts were not rewarded when Nashville scored a subliminal goal from a corner kick in the 74th minute.
Cristian Espinoza stood over the ball, holding up both arms over his head to make an X. Revolution broadcasters Brad Feldman and Clyde Simms noticed the motion, wondering aloud what play it might signal. Lo and behold, Espinoza played a fast low cross to Bryan Acosta, the Costa Rican completely unmarked at the top of the box. Acosta hit the ball on his first touch, a powerful low shot that was impossible for Turner to save. It was a magnificent goal, a designed set piece that showed the quality Nashville has in its squad.
From that point on, it was essentially garbage time. Revolution head coach Marko Mitrović ended up using all five substitutes available to him during the game, including bringing on Marcos Zambrano for his MLS debut in the 78th minute.
The game ended 3-0 in favor of Nashville, with New England only mustering two shots on goal. One of those shots came from substitute Jackson Yueill in the 87th minute, when the game was effectively over.
The Revs missed the dynamic attacking play of their winger Luca Langoni on the night. To be fair, you could also say that Nashville missed the attacking prowess of striker Sam Surridge. In any case, Nashville were clearly the better team and deserved to win the game.
After suffering their first home loss of the season, the Revolution will need to quickly forget this result and move on to face Minnesota United on the weekend.
