So I was away in Chicago when this game was played and never got around to watching it, but the Revolution won. Diego Fagundez scored in first half stoppage time to level the game and Teal Bunbury got his 8th goal of the season for the win.
June 9, 2018, at Chicago Fire, 1-1 T
This game wasn’t terrible to watch, but the Revolution were unable to capitalize on their chances, whether through build up play or fast breaks. Bastian Schweinsteiger scored for the Fire on a standard “everybody lose your mark in the box” defensive breakdown from the Revolution. Bunbury equalized for New England after Fagundez pressured the Chicago goalkeeper into dropping the ball on a routine catch. Add that to the pile of weirdness the Revolution have experienced so far this year.
Win at home, tie away?, June 13, 2018, at San Jose Earthquakes, 2-2 T
Right before the World Cup break, the Revolution reminded everyone that they’re still the good old Revolution. As good as Matt Turner has been in goal for New England, the first San Jose goal was a direct result of poor distribution from Turner. On the other hand, the Revolution’s second goal was a direct result of Turner getting the ball to Krisztian Nemeth quickly so the front three could counterattack. The Revolution went into the half up a goal (Fagundez free kick and Christian Penilla from the fast break), then promptly allowed San Jose to score again within ten minutes of the second half. Frustrating because of the team’s inability to hold on to a lead and because this looked like a game they could win. Not the result I was looking for when I stayed up past midnight to watch this one.
Home cooking, June 30, 2018, vs. DC United, 3-2 W
Back at home after the World Cup break, the Revolution started off a three-game homestand with a win against DC United, who are not doing very well this year (okay, they’re dead last in the standings). In typical Revolution fashion, instead of putting a home game against a poorly performing team away early, they dragged it out until the final whistle. The Revolution’s first goal came from another Turner-Nemeth-Fagundez-Penilla sequence. My current opinion is that Nemeth has been better on the wing than Juan Agudelo because he’s been able to hold on to long balls that lead to goals and he’s strategically drawn fouls in/near the penalty box. He has, however, not scored yet this season. DC then scored off a free kick that deflected off of a United player’s face. Not sure what Turner could have done about that, but the original foul right outside the box should probably not have been committed. In first half stoppage time, Bunbury put the Revolution up again, setting his single season record for goals scored, previously 9 with Sporting Kansas City in 2011. The second half did not look great, and the teams traded penalty kicks to finish off the game. The call against the Revolution was again a foul that probably shouldn’t have been committed, and the DC foul appeared to involve Andrew Farrell’s shins being headbutted/tackled. Not the prettiest game, but they came away with three points.
The US Open Cup is a yearly tournament that spans all tiers of organized soccer, from MLS down to amateur club teams. The farther down the soccer pyramid a team starts, the more games they have to play to reach the final game, but theoretically, every team in US soccer has a chance to win. In reality, an MLS team has won every year since MLS began in 1996 except for in 1999, when the Rochester Rhinos, a second division team, won. The end result was too painful, so I didn’t watch any replays and can’t comment on how truly awful or not this game was. Sadly, I can’t say I was entirely surprised by the result. The game came in the middle of their 6 games in 3 weeks, wasn’t an MLS game, and featured a lot of players who hadn’t been getting regular minutes in MLS.
Disregarding the Open Cup loss, MLS play went fairly well (first undefeated month since August 2015). Friedel returned to the 4-4-2, and more consistently played Jalil Anibaba and Antonio Delamea as his center backs, with Claude Dielna as left back with Chris Tierney out for the season and Gabriel Somi somewhat inconsistent. The back line still feels one wrong move away from impending disaster, but they got the job done in June. The Revolution head into the second half of the season with their best start since the 34-game schedule was implemented in 2008.
Record for June: 2W-0L-2D
Overall record: 7W-4L-6D
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