Revolution come from behind in 2-2 draw with LA Galaxy

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution came from behind to earn a point against the LA Galaxy, playing to a 2-2 draw on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium. With the draw, New England remains in second place in the Eastern Conference with a 5-3-6 record for 21 points on the season, four points behind leader D.C. United. First-half goals from Teal Bunbury and Diego Fagundez were enough to extend New England’s home unbeaten streak to 16 games dating back to July 30, 2014, though they have drawn each of their last three home games despite scoring first in each.

Teal Bunbury’s goal in the fifth minute gave New England an early 1-0 lead. Scott Caldwell hit a low ball across the face of goal for Bunbury, who one-timed his finish just inside the far post for the Revs’ fastest goal of the season. Juan Agudelo was also credited with an assist on the goal, which was Bunbury’s third of the season.

The LA Galaxy brought the score level at 1-1 in the 18^th minute when midfielder Ignacio Maganto scored the first goal of his MLS career. Baggio Husidic mis-hit a shot at the top of the box and the ball fell perfectly for Maganto, who fired a right-footed shot past Bobby Shuttleworth to even the score.

Just nine minutes later, the Revolution found themselves trailing at home for this first time this season when Gyasi Zardes gave the visitors a 2-1 advantage. Maganto played a ball forward to Jose Villarreal at the top of the New England area and Villarreal back-heeled a pass to Zardes who ran onto the ball, took a touch, and slotted past Shuttleworth, giving LA the lead.

The Revolution, who were forced to take off Jermaine Jones in the 35^th minute because of a left groin injury, equalized two minutes later to round out the scoring in a wild first half. Teal Bunbury was fouled at the top of the box and Diego Fagundez stepped up to take the free kick, curling a right-footed shot over the wall and past the dive of Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo, tying the score at 2-2. The goal was the first of the year for Fagundez and the first of his MLS career directly from a free kick.

After the break, the Revs went in search of the go-ahead goal but could not find a breakthrough. Charlie Davies and Agudelo each had chances, but were unable to add to their goal tally, while, at the other end of the field, Shuttleworth was called up to deny Maganto’s effort from close range to give each side a share of the points.

Revolution Santander Man of the Match

DIEGO FAGUNDEZ – Making his first home start since March, Fagundez scored his first goal of the season in the 37^th minute to tie the game at 2-2. Fagundez curled a free kick over the wall and past the dive of Jaime Penedo for the first goal of his MLS career directly from a free kick.

Next Game

The Revolution will be back in action on Saturday, June 6 when they travel west to face the Portland Timbers at Providence Park. That game, which kicks off at 10:30 p.m. ET, can be seen locally on Comcast SportsNet while 98.5 The Sports Hub will carry the game on the radio in English and WMVX 1570 AM Nossa Radio USA will have the call in Portuguese.

New England Revolution vs. LA Galaxy
May 31, 2015 – Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
New England Revolution 2, LA Galaxy 2
Scoring Summary:

NE – Teal Bunbury 3 (Scott Caldwell 4, Juan Agudelo 2) 5’

LA – Ignacio Maganto 1 (Baggio Husidic 2) 18’

LA – Gyasi Zardes 3 (Jose Villarreal 3, Ignacio Maganto 1) 27’

NE – Diego Fagundez 1 (Unassisted) 37’

Misconduct Summary:

NE – Kevin Alston (Yellow Card) 24’

NE – Andy Dorman (Yellow Card) 61’

New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth; London Woodberry, Andrew Farrell, Jose Goncalves, Kevin Alston; Jermaine Jones © (Andy Dorman 35’), Scott Caldwell; Teal Bunbury Diego Fagundez (Daigo Kobayashi 77’), Juan Agudelo; Charlie Davies (Kelyn Rowe 69’).

Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Donnie Smith, Steve Neumann, Sean Okoli.

STATS: Shots 11, Shots on target 3, Saves 1, Corner kicks 8, Offsides 5, Fouls 14, Possession 51.8%, Passes 392 (66.1%)

LA Galaxy: Jaime Penedo; Dan Gargan (Mika Vayrynen 65’), Omar Gonzalez ©, Leonardo, Oscar Sorto; Stefan Ishizaki, Juninho, Baggio Husidic, Ignacio Maganto; Jose Villarreal (Alan Gordon 28’, Edson Buddle 69’), Gyasi Zardes.

Substitutes Not Used: Brian Rowe, Tommy Meyer, Rafael Garcia, Kenney Walker.

STATS: Shots 12, Shots on target 3, Saves 1, Corner kicks 1, Offsides 1, Fouls 17, Possession 48.2%, Passes 373 (67.8%)

Referee: Alan Kelly

Assistant Referees: Adam Wienckowski and Gianni Facchini

Fourth Official: Mathieu Bourdeau

Weather: Rainy and 52 degrees

Attendance: 17,569

Team Records:

New England Revolution: 5-3-6, 21 pts.

LA Galaxy: 5-4-6, 21 pts.

Additional Game Notes

With the draw, the Revolution are now 5-3-6 for 21 points on the season. They remain in second place in the Eastern Conference, four points behind D.C. United.
The Revs are now unbeaten in their last 16 regular-season home games dating back to July 30, 2014. They are 10-0-6 in those 16 games, including a 3-0-5 record at home this season.
New England finished the month of May with a 1-1-4 record, though they scored first in each contest.
The Revs have now scored first in each of their last seven games dating back to April 25 against Real Salt Lake.
New England is now 5-0-3 in their last eight games against the reigning MLS Cup champions and 6-1-3 all-time in a rematch of the previous year’s MLS Cup.
Revolution head coach Jay Heaps made two changes to the team that drew 1-1 with D.C. United last weekend at Gillette Stadium. Kevin Alston and Diego Fagundez returned to the starting lineup in place of Chris Tierney and Lee Nguyen, who were each suspended for the game after being sent off last weekend against Real Salt Lake.
In addition to Nguyen and Tierney, the Revolution were also without Darrius Barnes, who remains out after undergoing left knee surgery in late April.
Teal Bunbury gave the Revs a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute, finishing a pass from Scott Caldwell. That was Bunbury’s third goal of the season, leaving him one shy of equaling his total from 2014.
That goal was the fastest scored by the Revs this season and their fastest in all competitions since Lee Nguyen scored in the 2^nd minute of a 3-0 win away to Toronto FC on August 30, 2014.
Scott Caldwell was credited with his fourth assist of the season on the goal, extending his career-high. Three of Caldwell’s four assists have come at home and all have come in the last seven games.
Juan Agudelo was also credited with an assist on the goal, giving him two on the season. He is now one shy of his career-high of three, which was set in 2012 when he split the season between the New York Red Bulls and Chivas USA.
The Galaxy equalized in the 18^th minute when Ignacio Maganto scored the first goal of his MLS career, tying the score at 1-1.
LA went in front 2-1 nine minutes later when Gyasi Zardes scored off a pass from Jose Villarreal. Zardes now has four goals in his last three games against New England in all competitions.
This was the first time that the Galaxy had trailed at home this season and also the first time that they had allowed multiple goals in a home game.
Before tonight’s game, the Revs had not allowed more than a single goal in any home regular season game since July 26, 2014 in a 2-1 loss to Columbus.
New England allowed more than one goal in a half at home just once last season and they had not allowed two or more first half goals at home since conceding three times in a 4-2 home loss to Montreal on Sept. 8, 2013.
New England equalized in the 37^th minute when Diego Fagundez curled a free kick into the net from 22 yards out for his first goal of the season.
That was Fagundez’s first goal since Sept. 7, 2014 when he scored in a 2-1 home win over Chicago.
Fagundez had never scored directly from a free kick before tonight.
This was his 99^th regular-season game with the Revs, leaving him one shy of becoming the youngest player in MLS history to appear in 100 games.
Prior to tonight, the last time the Revs had scored directly from a free kick in a regular-season game was July 30, 2014 when Lee Nguyen scored from a free kick in a 3-0 home win over Colorado.
Jermaine Jones left the game in the 35^th minute with a left groin injury. He was replaced by Andy Dorman.
Dorman was shown a yellow card in the 61^st minute. That was his sixth yellow card of the season, which are the most in MLS this season and tying his MLS career-high.
Daigo Kobayashi entered the game in the 76^th minute, replacing Diego Fagundez. This was his first appearance since March 28 against San Jose, having missed the last nine games while recovering from groin and back injuries, though he was on the bench last weekend against D.C. United.