FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The only goal of Wednesday night’s 1-0 loss to New York City FC arrived around the hour mark, but New England Revolution head coach Jay Heaps felt the game might’ve hinged on a couple of flashpoints earlier in the first half.
The Revs had a penalty shout turned away in the eighth minute with Kelyn Rowe was clattered into while running onto Lee Nguyen’s chip – NYCFC goalkeeper Josh Saunders pushed Rowe’s bundled shot off the post – while Teal Bunbury bounced a header over the crossbar from close range after 30 minutes.
Those missed opportunities left the Revolution with nothing to show for their first-half toil, allowing the visitors to tighten up their defensive lines in a frustrating second half.
“We wanted to come out and strike early and put them under pressure, and I felt like we had some quality chances to do so,” Heaps said. “It looked like there wasn’t much ball played on [the Rowe chance], but in the end, even when we play a good team, we have to be able to battle and come back.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t do enough tonight.”
Heaps took issue with the sequence leading up to Lampard’s winner, as Revolution forward Kei Kamara appeared to be fouled in the buildup. While Heaps said it was “1000 percent a foul,” he admitted that New England’s reaction in the aftermath needed to be better.
“We have to do better,” Heaps said. “In the end, it’s a foul. But did we need to drop off and stay tight in the box? Yeah. We’ve got to finish the play.”
Heaps brought on both Femi Hollinger-Janzen and Daigo Kobayashi within five minutes of going behind and switched into more of a 4-4-2 formation. The moves provided a spark of energy – Femi had a pair of headers that narrowly missed late on – but ultimately there was no end product.
There was late drama, however, as Bobby Shuttleworth was sent off in the dying moments as he took down Khiry Shelton on a breakaway, meaning Brad Knighton will likely resume starting duties for Saturday night’s meeting Columbus Crew SC.
It’ll be the Revolution’s second home game in a matter of four days, and their fifth game in a 15-day stretch that has seen them go 1-3-0 in all competitions.
“Obviously it’s a tough stretch,” said Heaps. “We’ll just roll up our sleeves, turn around and play on Saturday and be prepared for Columbus.”
