MLS Regular Season | Match #13
New England Revolution vs. New York City FC
Saturday, May 25 | 7:30 p.m. ET
Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Mass.
Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
English Talent: Chris Wittyngham (play-by-play), Lori Lindsey (analyst)
Spanish Talent: Oscar Salazar (play-by-play), Luis Gerardo Bucci (analyst)
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub HD2 (English), 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
English Talent: Brad Feldman (play-by-play), Charlie Davies (analyst)
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
15th in Eastern Conference (2-9-1, 7 pts.)
Last Result | 3-0 loss vs. Philadelphia Union
The Revolution came back to Gillette Stadium last Saturday hoping to build on the positives from the previous weekend’s loss on the road at Red Bull Arena and return to winning ways. Unfortunately, a Ryan Spaulding red card early in the game proved too great a challenge, and despite the team showing a lot of fight, the Revs fell 3-0 at home to the Philadelphia Union.
Head coach Caleb Porter emphasized throughout the week that, while no one was happy with the recent results, the team remains unified, committed, and always focused on the next game. This weekend’s matchup with NYCFC will provide another opportunity for the squad to demonstrate the hard work everyone has been putting in on the training ground day after day and week after week.
New York City FC
3rd in Eastern Conference (7-5-2, 23 pts.)
Last Result | 2-1 win vs. New York Red Bulls
Simply put, New York City FC is one of the hottest teams in Major League Soccer right now. After losing their first three games of the season, head coach Nick Cushing has turned things right around, and his Blues have now won six of their last seven MLS games. These positive results have elevated NYCFC to 3rd in the Eastern Conference and 5th in the race for the Supporters’ Shield.
Crucially, their most recent run out was a 2-1 home win over the New York Red Bulls, securing bragging rights and three important points in the latest edition of the Hudson River Derby for the Bronx outfit. That scoreline might be indicative of a larger trend, though; only four of NYCFC’s 14 games played thus far this campaign have been decided by more than one goal, and they have only netted more than two goals in a game on one occasion this season.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution midfielder Carles Gil
As always, the Revolution will be looking to their captain Carles Gil for inspiration and an attacking spark this weekend against NYCFC. The Spaniard reached a major milestone with his most recent goal, scored against the New York Red Bulls two weeks ago, becoming only the fourth player in Revs history to notch 100 goal contributions with the club.
Importantly, Gil could be playing as a part of head coach Caleb Porter’s preferred attacking set, with forward Giacomo Vrioni continuing to put himself in dangerous positions and wingers Dylan Borrero and Tomás Chancalay both available following an injury and a suspension, respectively. Additionally, Gil netted New England’s only goal the last time NYCFC came to Gillette Stadium, and he will surely be looking to put in another important performance in front of the home crowd on Saturday.
NYCFC goalkeeper Matt Freese
New York City FC goalkeeper Matt Freese’s 52 saves so far this season currently rank him tied for second in the league for that metric, behind only Austin FC keeper Brad Stuver. Freese’s shot-stopping abilities have been critical to keeping the Blues in close games, keeping even the prolific Inter Miami CF restricted to a single goal when the two sides met in late March, and shutting out the Revs when they traveled to Yankee Stadium a few weeks later.
With the keeper saving shots at the rate that he is, New England’s best bet may simply be focusing on quantity: Freese has allowed at least one goal in all but one of the eight games in which he has faced five or more shots this season.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Revolution head coach Caleb Porter on the togetherness in the team and the mindset ahead of NYCFC:
“This team is united. They're fighting. We're all committed to this club and this season. You saw it, we went down a man 13 minutes into the game, we've got our DP captain [Carles Gil and others] who fought to the last second. This team is on board. They're fighting. They're not happy with the results, but the locker room is together. The key is to win the next game. It’s disappointing that we didn't get the chance to play 11-v-11 and to show our improvement and to show that next level that this team has gone to. The other thing is, I'm not going anywhere; I'm committed to this club. I know where we're going to get to. I'm not backing down. I'm not wavering. I'm not flinching. This team is on board with me as well, and I'm on board with them. Doesn't mean we're doing cartwheels, because we're losing, but I think the key thing is that these guys are fighting and they will continue to fight, and that's not going to change.”
Porter on missing the opportunity to demonstrate the team’s work in training against Philadelphia, and having another chance to prove themselves this weekend:
“It was very disappointing for everyone, because we worked so hard to put ourselves in a position to try and take that next step to get a positive result. Then 13 minutes in, we are down a man and there are not many teams in the world that are winning that game. There just aren’t. I know people don’t want to hear that you just throw it out, but from my standpoint, you do. It’s unfortunate we lose the game. It’s another game we lose, but there isn’t much more we can do about that when we make that type of mistake. We’ll learn from it, for sure, but it’s on to the next. It’s not like I sat and showed the guys 78 minutes of clips down a man. If anything, I’d show them how hard they fought, honestly. Maybe, with the 3-0 score, it didn’t look like that, but I thought everybody fought and gave everything they had, and that’s not easy. So now, moving forward, we have a chance to make up for it and to show, again, that we are improving and to show, again, that we are team ready to pop. We’re a team that’s growing, we’re a team that’s together, that’s united, and this is an opportunity to show all these things to everyone. The group has worked really hard this week. Under the circumstances, their attitude is excellent right now. No one is happy [with the results]. I’m not happy. They’re not happy, but we are together and their attitude is excellent. That’s really key when your team is together, you’re united, you’re still fighting, and you have a chance to now turn these results around. Our goal this week is to get on a run here – to get that first result at home and go on a run.”
Porter on the fitness status of Brandon Bye, DeJuan Jones, and Dylan Borrero:
“[Brandon Bye] is doing well. He's doing more and more on the pitch. He's still probably three, four weeks away from being full out. DeJuan [Jones] is back in, obviously. You saw, he played a little over 30 minutes in the game, so we'll keep progressing him along. It's great to have him back for sure. Dylan [Borrero] as well, it kind of got lost in the shuffle a little bit, him starting the game, and he didn't get a chance to show his level, but I think he did show flashes of what he can do. He was very dangerous even though we were down a man.”
Porter on being back at home in front of the Revolution fans this weekend:
“Yeah, it helps. It helps, but also, I understand. When you're not getting results, I understand the fans aren't going to be happy and they are going to want more. What will help us if they're continuing to be supportive and cheer – they don’t have to cheer for me, but cheer for the players, support them. I'm going to keep doing what I always do, and there will be a day where the fans are happy with me too, and I get that they're not right now.”
Revolution defender DeJuan Jones on returning from injury last weekend:
“Yeah, it was a long time away. So yeah, to be back out in front of our fans, 35,000, was amazing. They've been supportive all year, so yeah just to be back with the guys is a great feeling.”
Jones on the team nearing full strength:
“It's going to be amazing. We’ve got a few more outside backs that are almost ready. So, it's going to be great competition in trainings, and we'll have our best players out there. I look forward to it.”
Revolution winger Dylan Borrero (translated from Spanish) on the unity in the team through a difficult stretch:
“We can’t lose our calm [feeling]. We want to be a good team and a good group. It’s important for us to be happy, above all. Every team has difficult moments. But it’s little details and once we get past them, we’ll be on the rise. We have been playing well but, for example, the [red] card was really difficult. Every time we lose a game it’s because of the little details. If we fix those things, we will win.”
Borrero on how the attack plans to create scoring chances against NYCFC GK Matt Freese:
“Every chance we get, we have to [score]. It doesn’t matter so much that he’s in a good stretch. For us, it’s crucial to score goals as the attackers to kind of take away from the good stretch he’s having.”
