FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (7-5-7, 28 pts.) fell to the Philadelphia Union, 2-1, at Gillette Stadium on Monday night in the teams’ third regular season meeting of 2020. Philadelphia scored the game’s opening two goals, first taking the lead through an own goal by Andrew Farrell in the 34th minute, before Anthony Fontana doubled the visitors’ lead with a chipped shot in the 69th minute. New England’s Tajon Buchanan pulled one back with a right-footed strike from distance in the 80th minute, and had a potential equalizer ruled offside minutes later.
The Revolution retain fifth place on the Eastern Conference table with four games remaining in the regular season. The team will look to remain above sixth place in order to advance directly to Round 1 of the MLS Cup Playoffs and avoid a single-elimination play-in round. The top-four teams in the conference will host a Round 1 match.
Both of Buchanan’s two goals this season have come against Philadelphia. The second-year winger has started seven of New England’s last eight games, and is one of three Revolution players – along with Teal Bunbury and Adam Buksa – to appear in every match this season. He paced the team with three shots on target in tonight’s contest. Buchanan’s goal was assisted by Matt Polster, who now has assists in back-to-back games for the third time in his MLS career.
In net, Matt Turner made three saves in his 65th league appearance with the Revolution. That moves him past Jeff Causey for third-most games played in goal in club history.
New England returns to action on Friday, Oct. 23, when the club visits Nashville SC at Nissan Stadium, marking the team’s away match against the MLS expansion side. The match kicks off at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and in Portuguese on WBIX 1260 AM Nossa Radio USA.
POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution 1, Philadelphia Union 2
October 19, 2020 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Revolution Fall at Home to Philadelphia, 2-1
- The Revolution (7-5-7, 28 pts.) lost, 2-1, at Gillette Stadium on Monday night to the Philadelphia Union.
- New England’s 2020 record against the Union falls to 0-3-1 in league play and 0-4-1 including the MLS is Back Tournament Round of 16. The two sides will meet for a sixth time in 2020 on Decision Day, Sunday, Nov. 8 at Subaru Park.
- Head Coach and Sporting Director Bruce Arena’s all-time record shifts to 217-129-104, and 15-8-15 with the Revolution. He owns a 6-3-4 career mark against Philadelphia.
Tajon Buchanan Tallies Second Goal of the Season
- Revolution forward Tajon Buchanan scored in the 80th minute – his second goal of the season. His first tally also came against the Union in the teams’ last meeting on Sept. 12.
- Buchanan finished the night with four shots, a team-high three on target, and won six duels.
Matt Polster Registers Second Revolution Assist
- Midfielder Matt Polster provided the service on Buchanan’s goal on Monday, his second assist in a Revolution uniform. In 31 minutes off the bench, Polster completed 26 of his 29 passes and won two duels.
- Polster recorded his first assist of the season in the 3-2 win at Montreal on Oct. 14, giving him assists in back-to-back games for the third time in his MLS career.
Bunbury, Fagundez, and Nguyen Approach Milestones
- Forward Teal Bunbury and midfielder Lee Nguyen each made their 199th Revolution appearances in tonight’s match, tied for 10th in club history. With one more appearance, they would become the 10th and 11th players to appear in 200 regular season games in a Revolution shirt.
- Tonight’s game was also Bunbury’s 199th career MLS start, moving him within one of the 200 mark. Bunbury’s 288 games played are 12th among all active MLS players.
- Midfielder Diego Fagundez notched his 259th regular season appearance, moving him within two games of matching Shalrie Joseph’s club record of 261 league appearances in a Revolution shirt.
Revolution Make Six Changes to Starting Lineup
- The New England Revolution made six changes to the starting lineup from Wednesday’s victory against Montreal, with Andrew Farrell, Henry Kessler, Scott Caldwell, Tommy McNamara, Tajon Buchanan, and Lee Nguyen replacing Michael Mancienne, Antonio Delamea, Matt Polster, Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez, and Kekuta Manneh.
- Monday’s game marked the first time this four-man defensive combination has started a match together. Alexander Büttner and DeJuan Jones started at left back and right back, respectively, while Andrew Farrell and Henry Kessler return in central defense after getting a rest on Wednesday against Montreal.
- Scott Caldwell returned to the starting lineup for his 11th start in central midfield of the season. The Braintree, Mass. native played 60 minutes, leaving him 81 shy of eclipsing 15,000 minutes played for his regular season career.
GAME CAPSULE
Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
Assistant Referee: Nick Uranga (AR1), Matthew Nelson (AR2)
Fourth Official: Adam Kilpatrick
Video Assistant Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
Weather: 54 degrees and mostly cloudy
Attendance: N/A
Scoring Summary:
PHI – Andrew Farrell (Own Goal) 34’
PHI – Anthony Fontana (Jamiro Monteiro) 70’
NE – Tajon Buchanan (Matt Polster) 80’
Misconduct Summary:
PHI – Sergio Santos (Yellow Card – Persistent Infringement) 57’
PHI – Jamiro Monteiro (Yellow Card – Time Wasting) 87’
NE – Matt Polster (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 90’+2
New England Revolution: Matt Turner; DeJuan Jones, Andrew Farrell, Henry Kessler, Alexander Büttner; Scott Caldwell © (Matt Polster 59’), Tommy McNamara (Diego Fagundez 59’); Tajon Buchanan, Lee Nguyen, Teal Bunbury; Adam Buksa.
Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Brandon Bye, Michael Mancienne, Antonio Delamea, Seth Sinovic, Kelyn Rowe, Kekuta Manneh.
Philadelphia Union: Andre Blake ©; Raymon Gaddis, Mark McKenzie, Jakob Glesnes, Kai Wagner (Matt Real 89’); Jack Elliott, Jamiro Monteiro, Brenden Aaronson, Anthony Fontana (Andrew Wooten 78’); Sergio Santos (Ilsinho 60’), Kacper Przybylko (Cory Burke 78’).
Substitutes Not Used: Joe Bendik, Olivier Mbaizo, Cole Turner, Aurélien Collin, Michee Ngalina.
