FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – A pair of uncharacteristic defensive breakdowns put the New England Revolution in an early 2-0 hole in Sunday night’s regular-season home finale against D.C. United, but head coach Bruce Arena – and more importantly, the players – never lost hope.
“Even when we were down two goals, I thought we had a chance to win the game,” Arena said.
Arena’s belief proved prophetic, as the Revs – who were 0-4-2 when conceding the first goal prior to Sunday night – clawed their way back from that early deficit en route to a wild 4-3 win over D.C. United on a wet and windy night at Gillette Stadium.
Adam Buksa started the comeback before the halftime whistle as he smashed home the rebound after Carles Gil’s penalty hit the post, while Tajon Buchanan first forced an own goal, then assisted on Teal Bunbury’s go-ahead strike in the 67th minute to push the Revs into a 3-2 lead.
D.C. responded in the 75th minute to draw level at 3-3, but Bunbury popped up again with his team-leading eighth goal of the season in the 84th minute, clinching an emotional win for the Revs.
“I’m so proud of this group for the performance tonight,” said Bunbury. “Not easy conditions – it was sloppy, it was a battle, there was chippiness, there was fouling, rebound goals, all of it. This is a playoff atmosphere and to have that resiliency – I know that word gets used a lot – but that’s exactly what we showed tonight.”
Buksa agreed, noting the difficult conditions – it was officially 48 degrees and raining at kickoff, and the precipitation only worsened as the game went on – as an additional obstacle for the Revs to overcome.
“When you consider in this game – because it wasn’t a beautiful game, tough conditions, we were losing 2-0 and that was a very, very difficult moment for us – and we showed spirit, we showed a commitment. Not some players, everyone on the field gave 100 percent, and at the end of the day we grabbed a very important three points.
“I absolutely agree with Teal. We are all a team. There is no one who doesn’t really belong to the team. We are all together. It doesn’t matter if you are on the field or not. You want the best for the Revolution, and that’s the most important thing for the moment.”
The most important thing about Sunday night’s win is that it pushed the Revs into sixth place in the Eastern Conference, out of the play-in round ahead of next weekend’s Decision Day visit to the Philadelphia Union, who’ll be battling for the Supporters’ Shield.
“We’re playing Philadelphia next weekend and I don’t believe we can brag too much about our results against Philadelphia this year,” said Arena, referencing the Revs’ 0-3-1 record against the Union. “So, that’s going to be a real challenge and hopefully when it’s all said and done, we’re in a position to be in the last eight teams in the Eastern Conference during the playoffs.”
