CHESTER, Pa. – Sometimes it only takes a few words to sum up an entirety of postgame thoughts, and that was the case for New England Revolution head coach Bruce Arena after Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw with the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park.
“I thought we played well tonight. We should’ve walked off the field with three points,” Arena said. “That’s my conclusion of the game.”
New England nearly did walk off the field with three points as second-half substitute Teal Bunbury gave the visitors an 85th-minute lead with his first goal of the season, just reward for a Revolution side that had been knocking on the door. But that lead was short-lived as Kacper Przybylko scored a controversial equalizer just three minutes later.
Przybylko appeared to elbow Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner in the face as the two challenged for a cross, and with Turner prone on the ground, the Union forward pounced to head home the loose ball. The sequence was checked by the Video Assistant Referee, but the goal stood.
Arena, who praised referee Tori Penso and her crew for their performance, said he hadn’t yet seen a replay so couldn’t judge the call, but it was clear Revolution players felt somewhat aggrieved.
“That was a bit of an unlucky goal that we conceded,” said Arnór Traustason, starting his fourth straight game since debuting on April 24. “But that’s just the way it is.”
Despite not claiming the three points New England were pleased with how they responded on Wednesday night, putting together a solid bounce-back performance following a disappointing effort this past weekend in Nashville.
“It was really nice to see the energy coming into this game,” said Traustason, adding the Revs “stunk” in Nashville. “The days before the game, the group was eager to bounce back, and we were eager to get three points here, but we got a bit unlucky. It was a good bounce-back performance today.
“You could see the players were a little bit upset with how we lost those two points, but we’re a team and we stick together and we just get back up. There’s a game again on Sunday, so we just need to get ready for that game.”
That game on Sunday is a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Final against Columbus SC, a nationally-televised contest (6 p.m. ET, ESPN2) that will give the Revolution a chance to build upon their perfect 2-0-0 record to start the season at Gillette Stadium.
“It’ll be good to get back home,” said Arena. “Columbus is the defending MLS Cup champion. We only saw them once last year. It’ll be an interesting game. They’ve got a real quality team … They’re bringing a really good team into Foxborough on Sunday, and it’ll really test us.”
