Foxborough, Mass. – The Philadelphia Union (3-3-2) fell 2-0 to the New England Revolution (2-3-2) Saturday night at Gillette Stadium as second-half goals from Diego Fagundez and Lee Nguyen propelled the Revolution their second win of the season.
“That was not reflective of the kind of game we are capable of playing. And it was probably our worst performance on the year so far,” Team Manager John Hackworth said following the match. “In a lot of ways, it’s frustrating because we’ve been playing consistent and at least the way we tried to plan tonight – it just wasn’t the same.”
Hackworth started the same lineup that fueled a 3-2 win over D.C. United the week before, but on this night, the Union were unable to capitalize on chances and they dropped a result to New England for the first time in club history.
“Disappointing,” said Union defender Jeff Parke. “They are a decent team but we made them look a lot better than they were. We gave chances and they punished us, so it’s a game we felt we should’ve gotten at least a result and it’s one we go home with zero points…and that’s just disappointing.”
Both goals for New England arrived in the second half, starting in the 61st minute when Diego Fagundez scored his first of the season for New England, finishing off a slotted ball from midfielder Kelyn Rowe. The Revolution struck again in the 72nd when Lee Nguyen finished off a play he started, sending a ball in the box for forward Saer Sene, who had his initial shot stalled by Union keeper Zac MacMath. However, the deflection fell to the feet of Nguyen, who continued his run into the box and had a wide open look on goal, which he pounded past MacMath.
The game marked the first multi-goal match of the season for the Revolution, which improved to 2-3-2 (8 points) in MLS play as the Union fell to 3-2-3 (11 points) on the year.
“I thought there were a lot of things we could have done better…it just wasn’t our night offensively or defensively, having possession of the ball and making plays that we generally make. It just wasn’t there tonight,” said Union captain Brian Carroll.
The Union did show flashes of brilliance, perhaps one of the biggest plays in the 40th minute, when midfielder Danny Cruz flashed down the right flank and served a ball in that was flicked on by Jack McInerney and fell to midfielder Michael Farfan. Farfan made a move to create space, but his shot was tipped away by Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttlesworth, one of his four saves.
In the 83rd, McInerney found himself on fast break after an attempted header back between a pair of Revolution defenders went awry, but his shot in the box was also stymied by Shuttlesworth.
“We had chances and we didn’t take advantage of them,” said Hackworth. “Shuttlesworth makes a few good saves as well and keeps them in the game and then I thought we came out in the second half and were actually playing much better, we had numbers forward…but [this kind] of play is not reflective of our team.”
The Union will look to shake this game off and prepare for a return to PPL Park for a match next Saturday (4 p.m., 6abc) against the Seattle Sounders.
“It’s a long year. It’s a disappointing result, but it’s a long year, said Carroll. “We have to move on and be better in the next one – plain and simple.”
BOX SCORE
New England Revolution 2, Philadelphia Union 0
Saturday, April 27; 7:30 p.m. ET
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
SCORING SUMMARY
NE: Fagundez 61’ (Rowe, Nguyen)
NE: Nguyen 71’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
PHI: Kleberson (caution) 82’
UNION STARTING 11
MacMath, Williams, Okugo, Parke, Gaddis, Carroll, Daniel (Kleberson 72’), Cruz (Hoppenot 65’), M.Farfan, McInerney, Casey (Le Toux 59’)
NEW ENGLAND STARTING 11
Shuttleworth, Tierney, McCarthy, Farrell, Goncalves, Guy (Sene 61’), Nguyen (Caldwell 89’), Fagundez, Cisse, Rowe, Bengtson (Imbongo 74’)
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