FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – When Teal Bunbury wheeled away to celebrate his stoppage-time winner on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, he wasn’t even sure which part of his body had gotten the final touch.
Truth be told, he didn’t really care.
Bunbury’s only concern was that his goal had handed the New England Revolution a precious late breakthrough in an eventual 2-0 win over defending MLS Cup champion Sporting Kansas City. That the goal arrived against his former club – Bunbury spent the first four years of his career in Kansas City before a preseason trade brought him to Foxborough – was simply icing on the cake.
“Definitely a lot of emotions, but most importantly, I’m just excited that we were able to get a win,” Bunbury said. “Our performance from the first minute to the last minute, I thought was world class. Everybody was fighting, everybody was putting pressure on them and it feels good to beat the former champs.
“It’s great – my old club and all that – but to be honest with you, the performance of the whole squad was unbelievable.”
For what it’s worth, replays showed it was Bunbury’s thigh which directed Diego Fagundez’s right-wing cross into the back of the net. Just a few minutes later, Lee Nguyen sealed the result with a calm finish from the penalty spot after Oriol Rosell had handled a close-range effort from Fagundez.
Bunbury’s goal wasn’t only a stoppage-time winner against his former club, but also his first in a Revolution jersey. The hard-working striker toiled through his first seven games in New England without a goal to show for his efforts, but a weight was lifted off his shoulders with Saturday night’s late strike.
“For me, a goal’s a goal. I really couldn’t be happier for that,” Bunbury said. “But it’s really the work of my teammates that kept my spirits up through these games not scoring yet. So this definitely feels good.”
It would be easy to surmise that Bunbury was fueled by a bit of extra motivation against his former club – he matched a season-high with three shots and was buzzing throughout an energetic first half – but he claims that wasn’t the case. Instead, he was fueled by a simple desire to score goals and win games.
“I feel like every game I want to score. That’s my job,” Bunbury said. “So I wouldn’t say it was a little more eagerness (tonight), but I definitely had some chances and probably should’ve done better with those.
“But we get a win and a big three points for us. We still haven’t lost at home, still haven’t conceded a goal at home. It’s great.”
