FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution's first homegrown player, 16-year-old Diego Fagundez, drew a penalty and scored a goal in his MLS debut against Chivas USA Saturday night, but it wasn't enough to lift his side past the Goats, who got two goals from Alejandro Moreno en route to a 3-2 win.
Moreno's second goal in the 80th minute proved to be the game-winner. The Venezuelan collected a ball from Ante Jazic at the 6-yard box and touched wide of Revs' goalkeeper Matt Reis to finish into an empty net. The goal gave Chivas a 3-1 lead at the time.
Fagundez scored his first ever MLS goal just five minutes later to cut the lead in half. The Leominster, Mass., native gathered a long pass from defender Kevin Alston in the Chivas penalty area and finished with his left foot.
Revs captain Shalrie Joseph had two great chances to equalize in stoppage time, one pushed off the post by Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy and the other headed just over the bar at the back post.
The victory puts Chivas USA (7-8-8, 29 points) back on the winning track after falling 1-0 to FC Dallas last weekend. For the Revolution (4-10-9, 21 points), the loss ends the club's brief three-game unbeaten streak.
Moreno had opened the scoring for the visitors in the 31st minute by getting on the end of a dangerous cross from Nick LaBrocca and deflecting the ball past Reis. LaBrocca himself doubled the Chivas lead in the 59th minute. Defender Darius Barnes blocked the first midfielder's first shot, but the ball fell right back to LaBrocca, who roofed a shot past Reis.
Fagundez brought an instant energy to the New England attack after being inserted in the 66th minute. The youngster showed no fear in running at the Chivas defense, splitting two defenders at the top of the penalty box in the 68th minute and causing Heath Pearce to stick his leg out awkwardly. Referee Mark Kadlecik pointed to the penalty spot, though the replay showed his decision was rather harsh toward the visitors.
Joseph drove home the ensuing penalty kick to cut the Goats' lead to 2-1. The Revolution captain nearly added another in the 79th minute, which would have tied the game at two, but Kennedy scooped away Joseph's header as it bounced along the goal line.
Both teams play their next match Saturday on the road. Chivas USA will return to the West Coast to face Seattle Sounders FC, while the Revolution will visit the Columbus Crew.
Ironically, I used to say the same about Chivas’ Flores, Braun, and Mendoza when they first took to the field. Once they grow up a little (and hopefully get a haircut) you’ll forget all that.
Even though I like to see youth in MLS, i dont like seeing 16 year olds. Cant take him seriously with that horrible haircut
Thanks kinda harsh. Milton isn’t match fit yet and has been with the team for only three days while Diego has been training and playing (USOC and reserve games) with the Revs for months. Familiarity does play a huge role. Also, as a starter Milton has to pace himself while Diego knew he would only be running for 25 minutes. It’s an unfair comparison.
U r guay
First we need to get Fagundez his US citizenship, then we can begin to worry about that….
uruguay… if they were to come calling, we can probably forget about it haha.
hyphen-American ethnicity*
English is not my strong point.
Odds of keeping this guy in a US uniform when whatever other half of his hyphen-American country comes calling?
The contrast was remarkable indeed. High-paid DP looked out of shape and generally uninterested, while the 16 year old kid brought energy, excitement, and passion. Go Diego Go!
Funny that we signed this kinda tired looking “DP” and yet this kid who’s been sitting on the bench all season looked like the real spark we’ve been dying for over here.
Cannot believe how well Fagundez played.
Also this shows how important AJ Soares is to the Revs back line. Chivas pretty much had three chances and scored three times.