Revolution fall to Philadelphia 2-0 on MLS Decision Day

A perfect storm of misfortune befell the New England Revolution on MLS Decision Day.

The Revolution closed out the 2020 campaign with a 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union on Sunday afternoon at Subaru Park. The Union improved to 14-4-5 overall and 4-0-1 against the Revolution to clinch the coveted Supporter’s Shield for the best record in MLS and top seed in the playoffs.

“We were thoroughly beat today in the first half,” said Revolution coach Bruce Arena. “I thought the second half was better, but the team that showed up in the first half played poorly.

“Today they just outplayed and they were obviously motivated, but I can’t understand how our team played in the first half.”

The Revolution needed a win or a tie to hold down sixth place and secure a preliminary round bye in the upcoming playoffs. The New York Red Bulls moved into the sixth slot with a 2-1 upset victory over Toronto FC.

The Revolution and the Red Bulls finished with 32 points, but the Gothams were 1-0-1 against the Revs. New England drew the No. 8 seed and will host No. 9 Montreal on Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m.

“We will evaluate this game and then concentrate at the task at hand,” said Revolution keeper Matt Turner. “We shot ourselves in the foot because we needed a result today to guarantee ourselves that top six spot and we weren’t able to do that.”

Turner kept the Revolution in contention with two huge saves early in the second half. Turner’s most spectacular occurred on a set piece in the 55th minute. Union forward Kacper Przybylko went up over the protective wall and headed the ball that Turner was able to catch.

The Union scored their insurance goal on a great transitional play in the 69th minute. Midfielder Jose Martinez made a deep run down the right flank and made a cross to forward Cory Burke in the scoring area. Burke, substituted in during the 63rd minute, took a clean feed and chipped it high under the crossbar for his second of the season.

“It was insanely frustrating,” said Turner. “I’ve never beat Philly as a starting goalkeeper and they have a plan and stick to it and they work hard and tackle hard.”

Philadelphia coach Jim Curtin elected to give rookie keeper Matt Freese his first MLS start in place of the Union’s more experienced backup, Joseph Bendick.

Union keeper Andre Blake, who started 21 games, suffered a fractured right hand late in the second half of the Union’s 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Oct. 28. Freese, who played two seasons at Harvard before turning pro, recorded a clean sheet in his MLS debut.

“We wanted to get shots across the first post and I don’t think we did enough in the build up to get a second goal in the first half to really challenge him,” said midfielder Scott Caldwell.

Freese was involved in a collision with Gustavo Bou in the 27th minute. Carles Gil lofted a free kick into the scoring area setting off a race between Bou and Freese after referee Dave Ganter blew the whistle. There was some pushing and shoving between the two teams in the box area during the downtime while Freese was being examined by the Union’s medical unit.

The Union opened the scoring on a set piece in the 42nd minute. Defender Jakob Glesnes lofted the ball into the scoring area, where it was headed off the crossbar by Alejandro Bedoya.

Forward Sergio Santos collected the rebound and booted it by Turner for his eighth of the season. Union midfielder Brenden Aaronson misfired on an open shot in stoppage time.

“He got inside and flicked a header and I went to try and cover it,” said Turner. “It took a good bounce off the crossbar and Sergio Santos was proactive in that moment and comes in for the easiest goal of his life.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/36gCxD1