FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (November 8, 2023) – The New England Revolution (No. 5) were eliminated from the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs after falling to the Philadelphia Union (No. 4), 1-0, on Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium. The result gives Philadelphia the series win, 2-0.
The two sides battled to a stalemate in a scoreless first half, which saw the Revolution reduced to 10 men just before halftime when Mark-Anthony Kaye was issued a red card after video review for violent conduct against Philadelphia’s Daniel Gazdag. Goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr., who earned his MLS Cup Playoff debut, made one save in the first half and finished with three stops on the night.
The Revolution continued to battle in the second half, putting three shots on target, one from defender Andrew Farrell that forced a safe from the Union’s Andre Blake. Farrell, making his 15th postseason appearance for New England, also saw another shot narrowly miss the top-right corner.
New England withstood the Union’s pressure well, but Philadelphia finally broke the deadlock in the 79th minute. Jack McGlynn sent a free kick from the right side of the penalty area through the six-yard box, where Chris Donovan directed it home for the winning goal. Emmanuel Boateng, Bobby Wood, and Tommy McNamara all came off the bench for New England to try and rescue the draw, but the hosts could not pull level before the final whistle.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Earl Edwards Jr. earned his first career postseason start and first action since October 7, recording three saves.
- Matt Polster made his eighth career appearance in the MLS Cup Playoffs, completing 67 of his 69 passes.
- Andrew Farrell made his 15th postseason appearance, starting at right back and recording two shots with one on target.
- Carles Gil returned to the lineup after exiting the opening match of the postseason after just 23 minutes. The Spaniard played 90 minutes, finishing the night with two chances created and team highs in duels won (8) and possessions won (6).
- Dave Romney appeared in 42 matches across all competitions for the Revolution this season, including every minute of the regular season, playoffs, and Leagues Cup. Romney registered a team-high five clearances in Wednesday’s match.
- Henry Kessler played 90 minutes in his return to the starting lineup.
- Gustavo Bou played 82 minutes, registering a shot on target and two chances created.
GAME CAPSULE
New England Revolution 0, Philadelphia Union 1
November 8, 2023 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistant Referees: Ian McKay (AR1), Adam Garner (AR2)
Fourth Official: Alex Chilowicz
Video Assistant Referee: Daniel Radford
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: T.J. Zablocki
Weather: 38 degrees and partly cloudy.
Attendance: 15,214
Scoring Summary:
PHI – Chris Donovan 1 (Jack McGlynn 1) 79’
Misconduct Summary:
PHI – Damion Lowe (Yellow Card - Hard Foul) 33’
NE – Mark-Anthony Kaye (Red Card - Violent Conduct) 45’
NE – Carles Gil (Yellow Card - Other) 90+4’
New England Revolution: Earl Edwards Jr.; DeJuan Jones (Emmanuel Boateng 89’), Dave Romney, Henry Kessler, Andrew Farrell (Bobby Wood 83’); Matt Polster, Mark-Anthony Kaye; Tomás Chancalay; Carles Gil ©, Noel Buck; Gustavo Bou (Thomas McNamara 82’).
Substitutes Not Used: Jacob Jackson, Esmir Bajraktarević, Omar Gonzalez, Ian Harkes, Ben Sweat, Giacomo Vrioni.
Philadelphia Union: Andre Blake; Oliver Mbaizo, Jack Elliot, Damion Lowe, Nathan Harriel; José Martínez (Joaquin Torres 68’); Jack McGlynn (Leon Flach 82’), Alejandro Bedoya ©, Daniel Gazdag; Quinn Sullivan (Jesus Bueno 82’), Mikael Uhre (Chris Donovan 67’).
Substitutes Not Used: Joe Bendik, Olwethu Makhanya, Jeremy Rafanello, Matt Real.
Full statistics available HERE.
