Top Stories

Revolution dismantle Union at PPL Park

Lee Nguyen

Photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISIPhotos.com

By DAN KARELL

It took them a little while, but it seems that the New England Revolution attack has finally made it into fifth gear.

For the second game in a row, the Revolution scored five goals as they thrashed the Philadelphia Union, 5-3, on Saturday evening at PPL Park. The Union finished the match with ten men and were out-played more than the scoreline showed. It was the Revolution’s fourth consecutive victory and both Diego Fagundez and Chris Tierney finished with a goal and an assist.

The Revolution ran out to a two-goal lead by the 26th minute as A.J. Soares headed home a free kick in the 13th minute and Fagundez took advantage of a lackadasaical Union defense to fire home for his second goal of the season.

In the 36th minute, the Union cut the deficit in half as midfielder Vincent Nogueira fired an absolute lightning bolt past Revolution goalkeeper Brad Knighton.

However, it didn’t take long after the halftime break for the Revolution to restore their two-goal lead and build on it. The Revolution had an easy time passing between the Union defensive line, and Daigo Kobayashi cut a ball into the box to the run of Lee Nguyen in the 49th minute. Nguyen did a Cruyff turn to get the ball on his right foot and scored on a shot that went in between centerback Aaron Wheeler’s legs.

The Revolution scored their fourth on a powerful free kick from Tierney in the 57th minute, with Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath diving late after losing sight of the ball.

Disgruntled fans at PPL Park were treated to yet another Revolution goal in the 67th minute when the visitors nicked a ball off Amobi Okugo. Revolution rookie phenom Patrick Mullins combined with Fagundez at the top of the box to set up the chance, as Fagundez layed off a ball behind him for Mullins to fire home low on the near post side.

The Union made the scoreline more respectable with two late goals, the first on a nice left-footed strike from Sheanon Williams in the 76th minute and the second, a stoppage-time penalty kick from Sebastian Le Toux to make the score 5-3.

Cristian Maidana was sent off in the 82nd minute for a studs-up tackle on Scott Caldwell, though replays were inconclusive as to whether Maidana actually made contact.

On the plus side for the Union, Zachary Pfeffer made his season debut, entering as a substitute in the 73rd minute.

Comments

  1. Not one reader raves about 10 goals in 2 games ?

    The Revs are the real deal…last year, they looked like they could be great some day….that day is here.

    Their weaker defense could improve a ton, when teams realize that if you try to score on them you will give up 5 goals a game.

    Reply
  2. I am impressed with the narration of their sports announcers. NFL teams are 34 points 35 or 38, then there is not much emotion in those points unless the game is drawn in the last minute. But in football there are few goals, and their narrators (most) narrate nunhuma without emotion. If the staff is listening to the radio, nor realize that a goal was scored.

    Reply
  3. And Lee Nguyen had another strong game plus scored a goal. The more I see him play, the more disgusted I am at JK for bringing in Julian Green and not Lee. Lee is on top of his game right now and is a playmaker and game changer. Green however is a future prospect. The WC starts in a month. We need players that can contribute NOW… not in four years from now….if ever

    Reply
    • And until a month ago most folks barely knew who he was. This guy has been in the USMNT radar since before he went DND played in the Vietbsmese Pto
      League and then moved to NE. He is quality, just like Feilhaber, but at the end if the day the coach could only bring in 30 and it’s clear his mission is also about 2016 and 2018. It sucks Ngyen didn’t get a call. It’s awesome we have that kind of depth in the program.

      Reply
      • I know it’s a huge exaggeration but Nguyen is almost like our version of Mikel Arteta with Spain. Both are wanted in the national team but they are considered too old to integrate in the national team. I find it awesome that we have so much depth that the guys who don’t even get a call up are very talented.

      • I should have fact-checked that before. For some reason, I always thought he was in his 30s. His last appearance was so long ago I always thought he was older.

      • He is a member of Matt Doyle’s “lost generation.” Guys 27-28 that got capped around ’07 and then fell of the face of the earth. A shame he popped up too late for this cycle.

  4. Hack has to go. Give Sorber a shot until the end of the season. Clearly, the Union won’t pay money for a real coach. Playing off underpaid Americans against the foreign players is the only shtick that Hackworth had to offer over the last two seasons. Getting rid of Parke for the cheaper and inexperienced Berry exposed the Union’s canard that Okugo was the second coming of Canavaro. He’s no center back; merely average as midfielder. No center backs, no proven scorer (except for old Casey) But, hey! Hack will tell you that the Union is winning the possession battle.

    Reply
    • Although I do agree with most of your points, I don’t agree saying Okugo is just an average midfielder. He is one of the most consistent performers on this team and even non-Union fans think he has a shot at playing for the MNT in future years. I do agree with everything especially saying Hack must go.

      Reply
    • You have to consider that he was missing two starters at center mid (Carroll and Edu) plus both of the most likely back ups at that position ( Lahoud and Bone) so hackworth had to move their starting CB to fill in at CDM. They did alright with a right back at CB covering Okugo but he had to move Williams back to the wing with no depth after Fabinhos suspension. He ended up having to start two big slow CBs who besides both being borderline starters pair particularly poorly.

      That’s what Hackworth had to work with today on defense against one of the hottest attacking teams in the league it’s hard to blame his lineup for the loss. Yes Hop for Wheeler was a dumb sub, but it wasn’t going to make or break anything like losing the defense did.

      Reply
      • Then keep Okugo on the back line. Sure he was dealing with a depth issue and sure NE is the hot hand. But let’s be honest, these are these are the mental and fundamentals mistakes that have been shooting this team in the foot all season long. As a pro coach, you learn to deal with it. As a front office, you need to make a change. As a fan base, you have to demand more from your club.

      • I fully expected Okugo and Berry to be on the back line with Noguiera dropping into Carrolls spot and Maidana sitting in front of him. It’s obviously still a sacrifice defensively, but not as much. Although then they lose the little attacking success they did have because everything runs through Noguiera. I just don’t blame this loss on Hackworth. I blame it on the FO, they knew we had defensive depth issues and replacing Parke with Berry and Wheeler wasn’t a good fix. This team isn’t great defensively to start off, losing the first three options at any central position is gonna make things hard for any coach.

      • Wait, why was it a dumb sub, they needed to score right? Hop drew a penalty. What would you have done as manager?

      • The offense was doing well enough. If Knighton doesn’t make two great saves (Wenger’s point blank header early, and Gaddis’ long range rocket in the second half) the score lines a lot more even. Despite New England scoring everything they shot, the Union still looked competitive through the early part of the second half. If I was making a sub it would be to bolster the defense not to supplement the attack.

        Hoppenot hasn’t produced goals or even a whole lot of offensive movement all year. Yes he did earn the penalty, but that doesn’t prove that it was a good sub. So the other problem I have with it is, even if you want to bring a striker in for your CB and attack harder why not just bring Wheeler up and save the sub? Most of the second half was spent dumping balls back and forth across the box. If that’s your plan, then Wheeler is the best option at striker anyway. Not Hoppenot.

      • I don’t disagree with your assessment. Doesn’t mean I have to like it or keep quiet about it, though.

  5. I would like even more cards. You have to protect the players. The increased cards has at least showed off how poor the defenses are when they can’t resort to continually fouling attackers.

    Reply
    • +1
      If they keep giving the cards, the bad tacles will decrease, the game gets better, fewer players get hurt, and a Vermes led team never wins another Cup.

      Reply
  6. Um, does Maidana actually need to catch Caldwell with his studs if that is clearly his intent? I don’t think so, and that’s what got called. Caldwell was lucky enough to have seen it coming, otherwise he might be injured right now.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Pace Cancel reply