CINCINNATI, Ohio – New England Revolution defender Dave Romney was full of praise for star man Gustavo Bou, hailing the forward’s vital contribution in Saturday’s entertaining 2-2 draw at FC Cincinnati.

The Argentine scored his fourth goal of the season, and crafted the crucial equalizer – forcing an own goal from Dominique Badji (who also bagged a brace for Cincinnati) – to earn a valuable point, ensuring the Revs became the first side to come away from TQL Stadium with a positive result in 2023.

Tallying a team-high three shots in Ohio (with two on target), Bou netted his 41st goal in regular season play to match Joe-Max Moore’s Revolution return, climbing to sixth on the club’s all-time scoring charts – and Romney highlighted the influential quality of his offensive counterpart.

“He was a complete difference-maker for us,” the defender declared. “He’s the reason we tied this game – why we tied 2-2.

“He had his hand in both of the goals. It’s nice to have a player who can create stuff out of nothing, or have a tiny sliver of a chance, and he had an amazing goal.

“We’re just happy he’s on our team, and he played well to get those two goals. He basically got us the result.”

With Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield leaders Cincy having entered the contest with a perfect 10-0-0 record on home soil, Romney also noted the significance of the draw, but admitted he and his side were left feeling frustrated with the level of performance.

Despite the disappointment, the center back acknowledged the character of the team to have fought back and earned a point in challenging conditions.

“We’re kind of happy with the result, but definitely not happy with the performance,” he reflected.

“Obviously, we’re very happy to get a point on the road against the first-place team – where no-one’s even gotten a point against them in the whole year – but I don’t think we played well enough as a team; I didn’t play well enough individually …

“I don’t know too many guys who played well, but I never want to have an off night, so it definitely wasn’t good enough for me. There were a couple of plays here and there I wish I had back. There was a bad turnover in the first half that led to one of their chances, and then on the second goal, it wasn’t good enough on Badji – I just couldn’t get a block.

“It could have gone our way with a play or two, but I frankly don’t think we really played well at all. I don’t think we played good enough to deserve a win necessarily, and I think we got away with a tie.

“It’s a great stadium with really good fans; it was extremely muggy and hot … Everybody was just kind of trying to survive out there! So, we battled, we fought really hard – that’s a positive to take away – but I don’t think we were good enough at keeping the ball in the second half.

“We were under pressure for a lot, we gave away 15, 16 corners … We put ourselves under too much unneeded pressure. We had a couple of turnovers in the first half that were extremely dangerous – I had one, a couple of the guys had one where our bad turnovers led to some of their best chances.

“So, it was sloppy in general from us, and even from them sometimes – just a sloppy game in general, which you don’t really expect from two of the top teams in the East.”

It proved an eventful night for Cincinnati forward Badji, who opened the scoring before conceding an own goal four minutes later – accidentally converting the rebound from Bou’s saved effort. Ten minutes after halftime, he struck again for the hosts to level the score and salvage a point.

Romney, who played alongside the Senegalese striker at Nashville SC, credited his former teammate for his brace, but hopes the Revs can learn from the challenge posed by the league leaders’ attacking threat.

“Dom’s a great forward,” he said. “I played with him in Nashville for two years. He’s a really good guy, he’s very good at stretching the game – he’s completely direct – and that’s what they tried to do: they got little turnovers in the center part of the field, or in their defensive half; they leave three guys high, and they just counter as quickly as they can.

“They try to be as dangerous as possible as quickly as possible, and I think his style of play suits them really well. He had two great finishes for them so hats off to Badji.

“We knew they were going to pretty much defend with seven and leave three guys high for most of the game – they’re going to have their two forwards and [Luciano] Acosta trying to stay high and stretching the game. We always wanted to be at least 3-v-3, or possibly 4-v-3 at all times.

“They made a couple of subs, we made a couple of subs … Then it’s just getting hot, it’s getting late … The game was really back-and-forth at times – you couldn’t settle into a mid-block, or a low-block, and find a structure …

“I just don’t think we were good enough in possession, and holding the ball for long periods of time to let us move up the field as a team, and try to build the pressure on their 18. It was just clearances, hopeful passes, stuff like that, which just kept us under pressure continuously.

“Unfortunately, we just weren’t good enough – maybe it was due to their pressure, maybe it was us just being sloppy – but there’s definitely a lot we need to learn from this game, and take forward if we play these guys again in the future, in the playoffs.”