FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution (17-4-5; 56 pts.) battled the Columbus Crew (8-11-7; 31 pts.) to a 1-1 draw at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night. The Crew’s Gyasi Zardes netted the opening goal of the night in the 58th minute. Four minutes later, Revolution forward Adam Buksa delivered the equalizer on an unassisted left-footed strike from the center of the box.
The Revolution’s home record shifts to 10-1-2, as New England is an unbeaten 6-0-1 over its last seven contests at Gillette Stadium. With 59 points through 26 games, New England is now only three points shy of matching the club’s record for points in a single season (59).
Buksa’s goal was the Polish strikers’ 11th of the season – tied for seventh in MLS and second on the team behind Gustavo Bou’s 12 tallies. Including his three appearances for Poland in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, the forward has now scored five goals over his last five games. Buksa led New England’s attack, which matched the club’s all-time single-game record of 33 shots, with a career-high 11 shots in tonight’s match.
Midfielder Carles Gil registered his third consecutive appearance and his first start since July 31. Gil played the full 90 minutes, surpassing 5,000 minutes played for his MLS career, and logged a game-high 10 key passes, which matches his season high. Meanwhile, Bou tallied six shots in his return to action after missing the last two matches with an injury.
Prior to Saturday’s match, the Revolution honored defender Andrew Farrell with a pregame ceremony for becoming the club's leader in appearances, starts, and minutes played earlier this summer. Farrell, who wore the captain’s armband and maintained his position as the MLS leader in minutes played, completed 59 of 60 passes along with four clearances and two interceptions.
New England will travel to Soldier Field to visit Chicago Fire FC next Wednesday, September 22, in a rematch of the season opener. The match kicks off at 8:00 p.m. ET on WSBK-TV38, myRITV, CoziTV, 98.5 The Sports Hub, and 1260 AM Nossa Radio.
POSTGAME NOTES
New England Revolution 1, Columbus Crew 1
September 18, 2021 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Team Notes:
- The New England Revolution played to a 1-1 draw with the Columbus Crew on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, moving their record to 17-4-5 (56 pts.) on the season, including a 10-1-2 mark at home.
- The Revolution’s 2.15 points per game through 26 matches keep the team on pace to challenge the MLS single-season points record (72 – LAFC, 2019) as well as the MLS points-per-game record (2.13 – LA Galaxy, 1998).
- New England’s 56 points are now the second most in club history, three away from the team record of 59 (2005) with eight games remaining.
- New England’s home record shifts to 10-1-2 on the year with four home games remaining. The Revolution, unbeaten over their last seven home games, remain two wins shy of matching the club record of 12 home victories, set in 2017 (12-2-3).
- New England’s 33 shots match the club’s single-game record, set on July 19, 2019 vs. Vancouver.
- The Revolution took 14 corner kicks on the night, two shy equaling the club record set on Sept. 25, 2019 at Portland.
- Bruce Arena deployed a starting lineup featuring four changes from last Saturday’s match against New York City FC, as Tajon Buchanan, Carles Gil, Gustavo Bou, and Adam Buksa started in place of Wilfrid Kaptoum, Emmanuel Boateng, Teal Bunbury, and Edward Kizza.
Individual Notes:
- Adam Buksa scored his 11th goal of the season, moving him into a tie for seventh in MLS this season and second most on the team. Buksa also set a career high with 11 shots on the night, including three on target, and added five aerial duels won to his MLS-high total.
- Carles Gil played 90 minutes and set a season high with 10 chances created on the night – two shy of matching his career high – while adding three shots.
- Gil is the only Revolution player ever to record 10 chances created in a match. He has now done so three times, including his own club record of 12 chances created set on July 10, 2020 vs. Montreal.
- Tajon Buchanan matched his career high with seven shots in Saturday’s contest to go along with three key passes and three tackles.
- DeJuan Jones tied a career high with four chances created and recorded team highs in interceptions (2), tackles (5), and duels won (8).
- Andrew Farrell, honored in a pregame ceremony for setting club records for appearances, starts, and minutes played, marked the occasion with team highs in clearances (4) and interceptions (2) and by complete 59 of his 60 passes.
- Gustavo Bou recorded six shots, four of which were blocked, and added two key passes.
- Teal Bunbury played eight minutes off the bench, recording two shots and two key passes. The appearance was his 314th in MLS play, tied for seventh most among active players.
GAME CAPSULE
Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistant Referees: Andrew Bigelow (AR1); Gjovalin Bori (AR2)
Fourth Official: Robert Sibiga
Video Assistant Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Weather: 73 degrees and clear
Attendance: 19,004
Scoring Summary:
CLB – Gyasi Zardes 5 (Harrison Afful 2, Darlington Nagbe 1) 58’
NE – Adam Buksa 11 (Unassisted) 62’
Misconduct Summary:
CLB – Saad Abdul-Salaam (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 65’
CLB – Isaiah Parente (Yellow Card – Bad Foul) 77’
New England Revolution: Matt Turner; DeJuan Jones, Henry Kessler, Andrew Farrell ©, Brandon Bye; Matt Polster, Tommy McNamara (Arnór Traustason 82’), Tajon Buchanan, Carles Gil; Gustavo Bou (Teal Bunbury 82’), Adam Buksa
Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Earl Edwards Jr., A.J. DeLaGarza, Christian Mafla, Wilfrid Kaptoum, Scott Caldwell, Edward Kizza
Columbus Crew: Eloy Room; Josh Williams, Jonathan Mensah ©, Milton Valenzuela (Harrison Afful 45’), Saad Abdul-Salaam; Darlington Nagbe, Marlon Hairston (Liam Fraser 75’), Alexandru Matan (Erik Hurtado 61’), Derrick Etienne Jr.; Gyasi Zardes, Miguel Berry (Isaiah Parente 70’)
Substitutes Not Used: Evan Bush, Vito Wormgoor, Aboubacar Keita, Grant Lillard, Bradley Wright-Phillips
Full statistics available HERE.
