HOUSTON – The New England Revolution opened the 2016 MLS season with a 3-3 draw at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston on Sunday afternoon. Daigo Kobayashi’s header in the 90+3’ minute brought the Revolution level just seconds before the final whistle. Diego Fagundez and Charlie Davies also recorded goals for the Revs, with the former also assisting on Kobayashi’s late equalizer.
The Revolution found the back of the net early, as Diego Fagundez gave New England a one-goal lead in the third minute. Houston was able to level the contest shortly before half, as Jose Goncalves and Bobby Shuttleworth converged with Houston’s Cristian Maidana, who came away with the ball and was able to finish in the first minute of first half stoppage time.
Houston’s Ricardo Clark connected with Will Bruin who found Andrew Wenger, to break the tie in the 50th minute. Just minutes later, after his initial shot was stopped, Charlie Davies connected on his own rebound to level the match in the 52nd minute. Je-Vaughn Watson set up Teal Bunbury with a great opportunity, which was stopped from point blank range in the 58th minute as Joe Willis managed to get a foot on a ball headed for the back of the net.
The Dynamo took a late lead as Will Bruin found Giles Barnes for Houston’s third goal in the 77th minute. Just prior to the final whistle, Diego Fagundez crossed a ball into the box which found Daigo Kobayashi, who headed home to draw the teams level at the final whistle. The goal was Kobayashi’s first in a Revolution jersey.
Full match highlights and statistics can be found here.
Next Game
The Revolution will return to Foxborough next weekend when they face D.C. United in their home opener. That game, which is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. ET, will be shown locally on CSN while 98.5 The Sports Hub will carry the game on the radio in English and WMVX 1570 AM Nossa Radio USA will carry the game in Portuguese.
New England Revolution at Houston Dynamo
March 6, 2016 – BBVA Compass Stadium (Houston, Texas)
New England Revolution 3, Houston Dynamo 3
Scoring Summary:
NE – Diego Fagundez 1 3’
HOU – Cristian Maidana 1 45+1’
HOU – Andrew Wenger 1 (Bruin 1, Clark 1) 50’
NE – Charlie Davies 1 (Fagundez 1) 52’
HOU – Giles Barnes 1 77’
NE – Daigo Kobayashi 1 (Fagundez 2) 90+3’
Misconduct Summary:
NE – Teal Bunbury 27’
NE – Je-Vaughn Watson 49’
New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth; Chris Tierney, Jose Goncalves ©, Andrew Farrell, Je-Vaughn Watson; Kelyn Rowe (Scott Caldwell 46’), Gershon Koffie (Daigo Kobayashi 85’); Diego Fagundez, Lee Nguyen, Teal Bunbury (Juan Agudelo 69’); Charlie Davies.
Substitutes Not Used: Brad Knighton, Darrius Barnes, London Woodberry, Zach Herivaux
STATS: Shots 13, Shots on target 6, Saves 2, Corner kicks 2, Offsides 4, Fouls 17, Possession 47.7%, Passes 360 (73.0%)
Houston Dynamo: Joe Willis; DaMarcus Beasley (Boniek Garcia 71’), Raul Rodriguez, David Horst, Jalil Anibaba; Giles Barnes, Alex, Ricardo Clark (David Rocha 65’), Andrew Wenger; Cristian Maidana (Mauro Manotas 76’); Will Bruin.
Substitutes Not Used: Calle Brown, Agus, Leonel Miranda, Erick Torres
STATS: Shots 14, Shots on target 5, Saves 3, Corner kicks 5, Offsides 1, Fouls 10, Possession 52.3%, Passes 381 (75.0%)
Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
Assistant Referees: Kermit Quisenberry and Brian Dunn
Fourth Official: Nima Saghafi
Weather: Cloudy and 75 degrees
Attendance: 21,594
Team Records:
New England Revolution: 0-0-1, 1 pt.
Houston Dynamo: 0-0-1, 1 pt.
Additional Game Notes
- With the draw, the Revolution are now 0-0-1 on the season.
- The Revs are now 5-11-5 all-time in season openers with 20 of those 21 games having been played on the road. New England is now 1-1-1 against Houston all-time in season openers
- The draw marks the first time the Revs have drawn in their season opener since March 20, 2011, when the Revs and the LA Galaxy drew, 1-1.
- Today’s March 6 opener is the Revolution record for the earliest season-opener in club history.
- Diego Fagundez’s third minute goal is tied for the second quickest goal of all-time by a Revolution player in a season opener. Giovanni Savarese scored in the first-minute on March 28, 1999 against the Miami Fusion, while Shalrie Joseph also scored in the third-minute on March 20, 2011 against the LA Galaxy.
- Fagundez’s goal was the first Revolution goal in a season opener since Jerry Bengtson’s goal against the Chicago Fire on March 9, 2013.
- Three goals marks the highest goal total for the Revolution in a season-opener since March 29, 2009 against Houston, where the Revs also recorded three goals.
- Six combined goals marks the highest goal total between both teams in Revolution season openers.
- Gershon Koffie and Je-Vaughn Watson made their Revolution debuts.
- Seven players that started for New England in the 2015 season opener also started in this game.
- Daigo Kobayashi’s 90+3 minute goal was the first of his Revolution career. Kobayashi scored two goals for Vancouver in 2013
- Teal Bunbury and Je-Vaughn Watson each picked up yellow cards. Bunbury’s yellow was given in the 27th minute, Watson’s yellow was given in the 49th minute.
- Scott Caldwell was the first Revolution substitute of the 2016 season. He replaced Kelyn Rowe at halftime.
- Diego Fagundez and Charlie Davies tied for the most Revolution shots with three apiece.
