New England Revolution Lose In U.S. Open Cup To Louisville In Disappointing Fashion With Club Playing Down To Competition

What an embarrassing night for the New England Revolution. The Revs fell to Louisville City FC in the Fourth Round of the Lamar Hunt 2018 U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday evening with a 3-2 final score.

To be fair to the Revs it wasn’t like they trotted out their full MLS squad against a lower level Louisville team. Instead Brad Friedel opted for a younger lineup that still had a few veterans to help lead the way. The starters for New England were Brad Knighton; Gabriel Somi (Juan Agudelo 58′), Nicolas Samayoa (Jalil Anibaba 36′), Andrew Farrell, Brandon Bye; Scott Caldwell C, Wilfried Zahibo; Mark Segbers, Zachary Herivaux, Femi Hollinger-Janzen (Kelyn Rowe 75′); and Brian Wright.

On the bench and players who were not used in the game were Cody Cropper, Claude Dielna, Krisztián Németh, Cristian Penilla.

The Revolution went out and grabbed the early 1-goal lead in the fifth minute when midfielder Mark Segbers finished a loose ball into the back of the net for his first Revolution goal. Louisville scored with Brian Ownby netting the equalizer in the 11th minute. That lasted until the 26th minute when the Revs gained the lead once more with a an own goal by Patrick McMahon.

But Louisville battled back and tied the game again, this time in the 37th minute with Cameron Lancaster sneaking one by Knighton. Then in the second half Ownby scored his second goal of the game giving City their first lead of the night in the 62nd minute to make it 3-2

Louisville City equalized shortly after with a goal from Oscar Jimenez, assisted by Brian Ownby, in the 11^th minute. The Revs took the lead once again in the 26^th minute as a touch across the face of goal from Femi Hollinger-Janzen was put in by Louisville City defender Patrick McMahon for an own goal. City evened the match at 2-2 in the 37^th minute when striker Cameron Lancaster slotted a low shot past Revs goalkeeper Brad Knighton.

With the loss the Revolution record against USL competition falls to 8-3-3 all-time. The importance of MLS play and keeping core players like Diego Fagundez, Matt Turner, and Teal Bunbury well rested is way more important than the U.S. Open Cup. That being said the roster that New England brought to the table was more than capable of coming away with a win on the road against a lower level squad.

After the match, Jeff Lemieux, the teams reporter, talked with Friedel who clearly isn’t happy about his clubs performance.

Friedel: “We broke a very important rule: When you go and play teams that are in lower divisions than you … you have to at least match their work rate. It’s a very simple thing. We spoke about it for the past two days.” #NERevs

— Jeff Lemieux (@jeff_lemieux) June 6, 2018

Friedel: “I think they felt they’ll put the shirt on, they’re an MLS team, they’ll come out and they deserve to win the game. I’m afraid that’s not how it works. That’s not how it works anywhere in the world in cup competitions.” #NERevs

— Jeff Lemieux (@jeff_lemieux) June 6, 2018

Friedel is certainly right, the Revolution looked like a team that was playing down to their competition, plain and simple. But with MLS play on Saturday the club has to be focused on what really matters. The team can only hope that the effort level against Louisville doesn’t carry over into their MLS games.

New England returns to MLS action on Saturday, June 9 when the club takes on the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park at 8:30 PM.

New England Revolution Fitness Levels Paying Off As Busy Stretch Of MLS Season Picks Up Paired With U.S. Open Cup

The New England Revolution are truly in the heart of their season. Games are now coming at a fast and consistent clip with matches in a week here.

The reasoning behind that is the U.S. Open Cup starting on Tuesday. But with an emphasis on fitness level and having a competitive squad has put the Revs in a good position to go out and compete.

For those reasons Revolution Head Coach Brad Friedel plans on going out and winning every match they can.

“We’ve got a really good squad. Whoever I put on the field, I fully expect to win. We’re going to Louisville to win the game. I’ve said this many times. Losing can be a bad habit that you get into and winning can be a great habit that you get into. No matter who goes on the field, we expect to have a good performance and hopefully we can progress in the Open Cup.”

The fitness level discussion has been one that has occurred throughout the entire season with Friedel putting a real emphasis in making sure everyone on the team is fit. Forward Teal Bunbury after Saturday nights win against New York said he feels good and that everyone is taking the right steps in preparing for matches.

“I feel great. I feel good. Obviously, tired after that game, but I feel like we’ve been preparing all season and preseason to be sharp. We’re getting proper rest when we need it. I think everybody’s taking care of their body.”

If the Revs progress in the U.S. Open Cup the matches will continue to come at a steady pace, but as of right now it looks like the club is positioned perfectly to handle the unrelenting gruel of the schedule.

New England Revolution Earn Critical Win Over New York Red Bulls

The New England Revolution defeated the New York Red Bulls 2-1 on Saturday night in Gillette Stadium.

In front of 21,576 fans the Revs fell behind early with an 8th minute goal for New York. But the Revs battled back with a goal by Diego Fagundez to tie the game going into halftime.

Then in the second half the scorching hot Teal Bunbury gave the Revolution their game winning goal to make it 2-1.

With the win the Revolution move to 6-4-4 on the season with 22 points. They are now in a points tie with the Red Bulls for 4th place in the Eastern Conference.

Views For The Match

Views for tonight’s match, rivalry game against New York. #nerevs

A post shared by tanner rebelo (@tannic95) on Jun 2, 2018 at 3:12pm PDT

Pride Night At Gillette

Six States All Fans #nerevs

A post shared by tanner rebelo (@tannic95) on Jun 2, 2018 at 4:35pm PDT

Lineups:

New England Revolution Lineup: Matt Turner, Andrew Farrell, Jalil Anibaba, Claude Dielna, Krisztian Nemeth, Teal Bunbury, Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez, Antonio Delamea, Luis Caicedo, Cristian Penilla

Nemeth being in the starting XI is a clear indicator that Brad Friedel wants to be aggressive to start the match and try and score early and often. Dielna slots in for the injured Chris Tierney.

For the bench it is Wilfried Zahibo, Zachary Herivaux, Brandon Bye, Cody Cropper, Brian Wright, Juan Agudelo, and Scott Caldwell.

Herivaux is returning from International Duty and Agudelo is available after missing the last couple of matches with injury.

The New York Red Bulls lineup is Ryan Meara, Kemar Lawrence, Aaron Long, Aurelien Collin, Connor Lade, Sean Davis, Alejandro Romero Gamarra, Derrick Etienne, Florian Valot, Bradley Wright-Phillips, and Vincent Bezecourt.

New York’s bench is Carlos Rivas, Marc Rzatkowski, Ethan Kutler, Hassan Ndam, Alex Muyel, Evan Louro, and Daniel Royer.

1st Half Reactions: Fagundez Buries Equalizer Ahead Of Half-Time

New England fell behind quickly with an 8th minute goal by Bradley Wright-Phillips. The goal was created by a bad giveaway by the Revs who were looking to turn upfield and flip onto the offensive. Tight window for Wright-Phillips who was able to capitalize on New England’s error.

New England received a flurry of chances throughout the first half with it being very much a back-and-forth half. In the later part of the 1st have the Revolution pressure picked up with sustained offensive zone pressure. This sustained pressure lead to a goal by Diego Fagundez who snuck the ball past in a tight window to get the game back to a tie ahead of half-time.

Fagundez’s goal was assisted by Teal Bunbury. It was Diego’s 4th goal of the season and Teal’s 2 assist.

Critical goal ahead of half-time to help set the tone for the second half of play. The importance of carrying over the pressure and momentum will be key for New England in the second half.

1st Half Stat Pack

New England got off 9 shots in the first half compared to only 5 from New York. 5 of the Revs shots were on target, only 2 for New York.

The Revolution possessed the ball for 58.5% of the time compared to the Red Bulls 41.5%.

Goalkeeper Matt Turner made one save in the first half but on the other side Meara recorded 4 saves. Part of what aided the Revs offensive pressure was 7 corner kicks, per MLS stats, New England had 1 missed chance in the half and lost the duels battle 41-33.

2nd Half Reactions:

One of the bigger storylines to kick of the second half of play was a non-call that should have resulted in a penalty kick. After that moment the match quickly took a more physical route with New England responding to not getting the call. Nemeth was clearly hit as he was about to take a shot.

New England should have a legitimate gripe with there not being a penalty call on that play.

The Revs didn’t let the non-call get to them for long though with the club keeping up their pressure and coming through with a 78th minute goal. Teal Bunbury scored assisted by Cristian Penilla, it was Bunbury’s 8th goal of the season and Penilla’s 5th assist. Bunbury continues his hot tear with his 8th goal in his last 10 games.

#NERevs @TealBunB calmly slots home a pass from Cristian Penilla in the 78th minute pic.twitter.com/kz2qHHUs2Z

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) June 3, 2018

The goal was created by an incredible low cross from Penilla who has had some impressive passes so far in 2018 for the Revolution.

Post-Game Reactions

After Diego Fagundez’s goal he took out his shin guards and celebrated with them. One shin guard had Uruguay and the other the United States. After the game Fagundez explained the meaning behind them.

I got my family on Uruguay and my girlfriend and my daughter on the U.S. one. I scored as a Dad for the first time, so I had to somehow get her into it.

One of the consistent themes this season with Brad Friedel is the importance of showing character on the field and the fitness level of the club. Both have ticked up for the Revolution.

The fitness part is becoming critical now with matches coming 2-3 times a week.

Really happy again with the character the players showed going down, especially so early. Stuck to the plan. We had three games this week, everybody knows, we talk about fitness, and we have been since day 1. Our team is very capable of playing three game weeks.

Against New York the Revolution started Nemeth, a striker. The reasoning for bringing in an additional striker and going smaller in the midfield was all part of the plan for the Revs.

We felt bringing in a different type of midfield suited this game because they try to swarm around the ball. I thought Kelyn and Diego and Luis Caicedo did an exceptionally good job in the center and midfield.

As for why Claude Dielna played over Gabriel Somi, Somi failed a pre-game fitness test. The reason behind that is Somi twisted his ankle on Wednesday against Atlanta and it prevented him from getting up to full sprint pregame making it an easy decision for the coaching staff.

And for anyone who is wondering about the non-call on Nemeth. Friedel hadn’t had the chance to see the replay of it before talking with the media post-game. From his viewpoint it looked like a penalty and the official apparently told him they were looking at it.

We’re checking it, I get that a lot.

When asked how Nemeth get’s into positions to potentially draw a penalty Friedel explained: “He’s quick, he’s a total all-rounder footballer, soccer player, sorry. He understand’s where he should be, if he’s playing as a 9 or if he’s playing as winger.”

Up Next For The New England Revolution

With Chris Tierney out for the season with a torn ACL the Revolution may look to bring in an additional left back to compete with Gabriel Somi.

It may be a position where we may have to try to look for somebody to come in and compete with Gabriel Somi. But that is something we will be discussing prior to the July transfer window.

The Revolution are now off until 6/5 when they play Louisville City in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup. New England isn’t back in MLS action until 6/9 when they play the Chicago Fire.

“We’ve got a really good squad, whoever I put on the field. I fully expect to win. We are going to Louisville to win the game. I have said this many times. Losing can be a bad habit that you get into and winning can be a great habit you can get into. No matter who is on the field, we expect to have a good performance. And we hope that we can progress in the Open Cup.” Said Friedel after the game when asked about the schedule going forward.