MLS is Back Tournament
Group C
New England Revolution vs. D.C. United
Friday, July 17 | 8 p.m. ET
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex | Kissimmee, Fla.
Watch: ESPN (English), ESPN Deportes (Spanish)
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub (English)
Revolution Live presented by Dan O’Brien Automotive Group (July 17, 3 p.m.)
- Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, revolutionsoccer.net
Outside the Booth presented by Dan O’Brien Automotive Group (July 20, 11 a.m.)
- Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, revolutionsoccer.net
Referee: Joe Dickerson
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
1st in MLS is Back Group C (1-0-0, 3 pts.)
T-7th in Eastern Conference (1-1-1, 4 pts.)
Last Result | 1-0 win vs. Montreal Impact
Gustavo Bou’s 56th-minute stunner and Matt Turner’s remarkable stoppage-time save helped the Revs claim a deserved three points in their MLS is Back Tournament opener against the Montreal Impact last Thursday night. Although the Revs felt they should’ve put the game away a bit earlier – making more of their 19 shots – the 1-0 win sent them to the top of Group C, as they’ll now aim to book a spot in the knockout rounds on Friday.
D.C. United
T-2nd in MLS is Back Group C (0-0-1, 1 pt.)
T-7th in Eastern Conference (1-1-1, 4 pts.)
Last Result | 2-2 draw vs. Toronto FC
D.C. looked down and out in their Monday morning meeting with Toronto FC, down a man following the first-half ejection of Junior Moreno and trailing 2-0 in the 84th minute. But the ageless Federico Higuain came off the bench to spark a remarkable comeback in his D.C. debut, scoring with a cheeky chip to cut the deficit in half and set the stage for Frédéric Brillant’s dramatic equalizer in stoppage time of an eventual 2-2 draw.
KEY PLAYERS
Gustavo Bou
Almost one year to the day since he officially arrived in New England, Bou showed once again exactly why the Revs splashed the cash to bring him to Foxborough. His deft cutback and left-footed rocket broke the deadlock against Montreal and proved all the Revs needed to earn their first win of the 2020 season.
Bou now has 10 goals and three assists in just 17 regular-season appearances in MLS, and with playmaker Carles Gil back in the mix and Adam Buksa settling into New England, Bou will only get more dangerous.
Bill Hamid
D.C. was a playoff team in 2019 largely on the strength of their defensive performances, as they conceded just 38 goals in 34 games – the second-best defensive record in all of MLS. A large piece of that puzzle was goalkeeper Bill Hamid, who ranked third league-wide with 127 saves while setting a D.C. club record with 14 shutouts.
Hamid could be busy on Friday night as the Revs generated 19 shots in their opener against Montreal, and they’ll once again look to pepper D.C.’s net in search of that finishing touch.
STATUS REPORT
Revolution
New England head into Friday night’s showdown largely healthy. Andrew Farrell (quad) and Wilfried Zahibo (muscle strain) both missed last week’s opener vs. Montreal with minor injuries, but both are back in full training and head coach Bruce Arena said he anticipates the duo will be available against D.C.
D.C. United
Paul Arriola has been one of D.C.’s top attacking threats in recent years with 13 goals and 10 assists combined in 2018 and 2019, but the midfielder was sidelined by a torn ACL in the preseason. Also currently out for D.C. are winger Emmanuel Boateng and backup goalkeeper Chris Seitz.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
New England Revolution head coach Bruce Arena
“What we’ve seen over there – I guess we’ve already played three games to date now – D.C. United has gotten goals out of attacking restarts. So that’s one of their strengths. They’re a physically big team especially with their center backs in [Frederic] Brillant and [Steve] Birnbaum and their striker [Ola] Kamara and one of their midfielders in [Russell] Canouse. So they have good size and that’s something we need to be concerned about. And their goalkeeper is outstanding, Bill Hamid. So I think with them getting one point out of the game [against Toronto], they need to get a result against us on Friday, so they’re going to be well prepared.”
New England Revolution forward Adam Buksa
“We’re a good team. We’re confident. We know we have a good chance to get through to the next round. But we respect our opponent. It’s not going to be an easy game. We know that. We’re very well prepared for the game. We’ll give all we have to win this game. I’m sure we’ll perform in the right way. What it brings, we don’t know. We’re looking for a good result, basically for a win. I think what we can do right now is to prepare well for it. We watched D.C.’s game against Toronto. We know their advantages, good points, bad points. It’ll be a tough challenge but we’re ready for it.”
D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen
“We’ve been essentially focused on Toronto for two full weeks, so it’ll be nice to kind of transfer our energy on now New England and trying to get a win or the right result. I am extremely proud of the way our team dug in and found a point (against Toronto FC). For these guys to stay mentally tough during that time and then to not fold when it was 2-0 and you’re down a man in that heat, it shows, I think, the grit and the mentality of our team.”
