New England Revolution
New England will resume the MLS common season on Aug. 20 in opposition to Nashville.
The Revolution have been left to rue a missed alternative following Monday’s Spherical of 16 Leagues Cup defeat to Liga MX aspect Querétaro FC on penalty kicks.
Taking part in at dwelling (although technically the street group), New England struggled to create probabilities within the first half, however may’ve nonetheless been within the lead had DeJuan Jones’s twentieth minute header discovered the web as an alternative of the crossbar.
The guests scored nearly instantly after the break, with Querétaro’s Jaime Gómez Valencia latching onto the top of a speculative cross, wrong-footing Revolution goalkeeper Djordje Petrović, culminating with the ball trickling into the web.
New England substitute Esmir Bajraktarevic ultimately leveled the proceedings within the 78th minute, scoring his first objective for the senior group in fashionable style.
The sport ultimately went to penalty kicks, the place even the skillful efforts of Petrović — with a uncommon expertise for saving spot kicks — couldn’t carry the Revolution to a win. Nacho Gil and Ian Harkes missed their photographs, and Querétaro discovered a approach to advance.
The ensuing defeat means New England won’t play one other aggressive sport till MLS common season resumes on Aug. 20 with an away matchup in opposition to Nashville.
Listed below are a number of takeaways:
The Revolution clearly missed the contingent of injured gamers.
Carles Gil’s obvious significance to the Revolution isn’t extra obvious than when the Spaniard is out with an damage.
Having been cynically clipped by a defender in New England’s Spherical of 32 win over Atlas on Thursday, Gil was carrying a knee challenge and couldn’t return to the lineup. Ahead Gustavo Bou was additionally out, and proper again Brandon Bye confirmed following the win over Atlas that he’ll miss the remainder of the season as a result of an ACL damage.
Every participant’s absence was felt in a number of methods. With out Bye, Jones was as soon as once more switched to proper again (with Ryan Spaulding leaping into the beginning lineup to play on the left). And whereas Jones is adept at taking part in each left and proper again, his qualities shine brighter on the left aspect the place he has rather more expertise (although he was inches from opening the scoring within the first half).
Bou was missed each for his skill to create direct offense — New England recorded fewer photographs on objective (3-2) than Querétaro — and his trickery within the last third.
Nevertheless it was Gil who the Revolution appeared to overlook probably the most. On condition that Gil just isn’t solely group captain however a fulcrum of New England’s passing, he is an important part in a number of methods. With out him, the Revolution performed a 4-1-4-1 (with Vrioni the lone strike and midfielder Matt Polster within the holding position), and struggled to progress the ball into Querétaro’s half.
It wasn’t till the second half that the sport opened up a bit extra.
Djordje Petrović returned to the lineup and made his presence felt.
After lacking the earlier spherical of the Leagues Cup as a result of what was said as “private causes,” (and was reportedly associated to the continuing switch curiosity from a number of European golf equipment), Petrović returned to the lineup on Monday.
Having barely had time to reset after the absence, Petrović made a snap save throughout the first few moments of the sport (although the shot was later referred to as again as a result of offsides). Nonetheless, it was an early indication of the form of saves he would make in open play on Monday.
The unlucky half for the 23-year-old Serbian keeper was that he was unable to forestall Querétaro’s goal from slowly bouncing in after it appeared he was caught off-guard by Valencia managing to get his head on the top of the cross.
But Petrović greater than made up for it along with his play over the remainder of the 90 minutes. On a number of events, he made quality saves look routine.
Whereas he may really feel he may’ve completed extra throughout penalty kicks, in reality Querétaro’s efforts have been well-placed and arduous for even the most effective keeper to avoid wasting. The sport led to defeat for New England however the group’s gifted goalkeeper nonetheless shined for a lot of the evening.
It was a pleasant evening for one more academy expertise.
With newly-acquired Argentine winger Tomás Chancalay showing on New England’s bench, it appeared he may make his debut on Monday. But when assistant coach Richie Williams’s substitutions have been made, he opted for extra acquainted faces, together with each Damian Rivera and Bajraktarevic.
Rivera has performed sparingly in 2023, however put in an lively and skillful shift. Bajraktarevic has additionally discovered minutes much less plentiful in latest weeks, however produced a top quality end for his first Revolution objective.
The 18-year-old took benefit of a superb first contact on Polster’s entry go and didn’t hesitate with the end.
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